Polar Opposite
by Blak-Ice
Summary: "What are we going to do? We've got to stop them!" When the Fenton's invent a new to device to switch the evil spirits of bad ghost to good, what happens when Danny and Danielle get caught in it? What happens when they get trapped in the Ghost Zone for almost two months? Can Jazz save them? Or will the Team and the League get to them first? And what are Vlad and the Light up to?
1. Prolouge

Prologue

This wasn't supposed to happen. None of this was supposed to happen. Things were supposed to become better, easier, for everyone. It was all good in the planning stages. She had looked over it all personally. So why was this happening?

Screams of terror filled the air, bringing the red headed young woman out of her thoughts as she stood upon the sidewalk in front of her home. Looking around her, all she saw was horror as smoke and fire rose from various places in her line of site. The crackling of the embers sounded about as the mix of orange and green flames burned brightly. Over turned cars littered the streets that were cracked and filled with holes of various sizes, matching the many homes and buildings in the area. Light poles hung limply as the metal twisted and bent at odd angles. People screamed as they pushed and shoved each other in a desperate attempt to find safety. But the girl didn't notice any of that.

Staring in wide eyed shock, mouth hanging open, the redhead watched as many of the ghosts she had come into contact with poured out of a mass of swirling green energy that her memory had memorized as a multidimensional opening between this world and the next that used to be present in the basement of her home before the explosion destroyed it. A portal. Or, more accurately, a natural portal between this world and the Ghost Zone, the realm of the undead. Fear was thick in the air like fermenting smog as a nearby explosion created a large gust of wind that blew her hair back, but she hardly noticed.

A loud cackle rang through the air that made her blood run cold in her veins. Though the voice was familiar, the harshness of the tone that clearly held power frightened the girl. Adrenaline ran through her, trying to force her muscles to mover her and to run for cover like everyone else, but the site before her kept her glued to her spot. Shaking her head in disbelief, tears came to her eyes at the appearance of the two figures in the center of all the chaos.

Two figures, one a teenage boy, the other a child, a young girl, floated there, both with blinding white hair and startling neon green eyes that were once kind and brave, but now held a chaotic and cruelty to them. The most unsettling thing about them were the smirk that the girl held and the grin that the boy had as they watched the pain and destruction that they helped to create. Neither of them were attacking, but it was clear that they were enjoying all of this, and it was that thought that made the redhead sick to her stomach with dread. As she opened her mouth and took a step forward, she was suddenly jerked back by a woman with auburn hair that had been screaming her name.

"Jazz! Jasmine! Jasmine Angela Fenton, answer me!" The woman yelled, shaking her daughter in desperation. The girl looked to her mother, a distant look in her blue orbs that matched the ones before her that held fear and desperation. But as she looked at her mother, only one thing came across her lips.

"It's them…" she whispered, her throat tightening.

"What? Jazz, we don't have time! We have to get of here and-"

"It's them…" she said louder as the tears she had been ignoring finally fell and her body began to shake with sobs of guilt. "It's them. It's them. It's them! IT'S THEM, MOM!"

"Jazz, I need you to calm down, and-"

"No, Mom! It's them! Danny and Danielle! They're responsible for this! They're the ones who brought all the ghosts here, and we're the cause of it!" Pointing up at the sky, finger landing on the two figures, Jazz screamed at her mother, "Look at them! Look at what you've done! You and Dad and all your ghost obsession have not only brought all this upon everyone, but now we've lost them both!"

Maddie turned toward where her daughter was pointing and gasped as her heart stopped for a moment at the site of her son as he floated in the center of everything, cackling like a mad man on a power trip at the pain being caused. How could this have happened? How could she let this happen? What happened to the boy she had seen just yesterday? Where was her little boy?

"Danny?" she whispered as she too started to cry. Maddie soon felt something jerk out of her grasp. Realizing that her daughter was now running straight into the disaster, fear pumped through her body as she screamed after her. "Jazz!"

Running barefooted down the street didn't bother, not even register, to Jazz as she passed people. In fact, everything seemed to move in slow motion as her eyes never left the site of the two white haired ghosts that stuck out in the blackened sky. No sound penetrated her ears other then the cold, cruel laughs of the two and her own voice as she called out to them.

"Danny! Danielle!" she yelled in an attempt to grab their attention, though it was futile. Unbeknownst to her, she had grabbed someone else's attention. As she was about to step on a manhole cover, it shot up from the ground, sending her flying backwards and causing her to land on her ankle that twisted painfully under her fall. Jazz screamed in pain as she held her ankle to her body, leaving her to lie in the middle of the street in the mix of the attacks going o. Just as she opened her eyes, Jazz tried to scream but nothing came out as a large green snake with red eyes slithered out of the hole, hissing at her as he eyed his prey.

Paralysis was not something Jasmine Fenton was familiar with, but she knew with the painful fire in her ankle, the fear constricting her heart and the look of hunger in the snake's eyes what it felt like to be a doomed mouse about to be eaten. Was this how she was destined to go out? Being eaten by a ghost snake at the mercy of her brother as he literally brought their town to ruins? If she hadn't been in mortal danger, she would have taken the moment to feel the bittersweetness of it all. As her lungs finally took in oxygen again and her throat unclenched, Jazz screamed as loud as she could, hitting an octave she didn't think she still could and hadn't since she was a little girl and Danny had broken one of her favorite toys. The snake relished in the sound as it unhinged its jaws and lunged at her.

A loud cracking sound shot through the air as the temperature around them dropped several degrees. The sound of the snake screeching quieted the teen's as she watched it freeze over, an unconscious shiver running down her spine and puffs of moist air rapidly leaving her mouth. Though beyond grateful for being rescued, Jazz's mind began to fire rapidly as she searched for whoever saved her.

"Useless snake."

Looking up with a smile on her face, Jazz looked upon Danielle who hand was still glowing bright blue with energy. As the young girl turned toward her, the joy Jazz had felt slipped away and was once again filled with dread as she saw the same twisted darkness in her eyes. Her attention went back to the snake as a bright line went right down the middle, separating it into two parts. The two halves slowly began to tip until falling over, crashing into the ground, turning into mist that dissipated into thin air. Jazz stared in horror as she watched the snake fade into oblivion, the ultimate fate of a ghost should its core be destroyed. She slwly gazed up to the person responsible.

Standing a few feet from her was none other than Danny Phantom, wearing a sleeveless black hoodie, the hood over his head and casting a dark shadow over his eyes. But that wasn't the most surprising thing about him as she gazed upon him. In his hand was a weapon. A weapon that moments ago was used to kill the snake and send it to oblivion. A reaper's scythe. The long white staff almost completely blended into his gloves while the black blade gleamed with a sort of dark energy as it dripped with green ectoplasmic blood. The two pieces were connected at the tip of the staff where it curved to form what was made out to be a large "P" where the blade jutted out.

'_A Phantom's blade' _Jazz thought to herself as he walked toward her. Stopping in front of her, Danny stood as intimidation radiated off of him. Jazz could feel her heart racing and then stop as she saw the sincere smile on his face.

"I told them all not to harm any of my family, but I guess some of these guys are just too idiotic and need a little proof that I'm not kidding about that," he said, still smiling at her. "Hey, Jazz."

"Da-Danny? Is that you?" she asked quietly.

"Of course it's me, Jazz," Danny said before turning to Danielle, a hard look on his face. "Danielle."

"Yes?" she asked with a hint of annoyance in her voice that did not go unnoticed by the older halfa who quickly flashed his eyes in warning to the young girl, a clear sign that her continued disrespectfulness would result in a severe punishment.

"Make sure that everyone knows to keep up with the plan, and that my warning still stands about not harming the Fentons," he commanded. An evil smile came to her face as she bowed slightly.

"As you wish." And with that, she disappeared in a cloud of green smoke.

"Danny…why?" Jazz asked as he turned back to her.

"Because Vlad is nothing but a pawn and an annoyance that I need to get rid of for the time being until my partners and I can be rid of him permanently."

"What partners? And why are you destroying the town? Why are you attacking our home and ruining your reputation!?"

"My partners are none of your concern , Jazz," Danny said, once again using that voice he had the held much authority. "And the reason I am destroying this place is because I can. I have the power and everyone will bend to my will like they're supposed to."

"Are you insane!?"

"No, I'm not. My plans will be fulfilled, and everyone who mocked me, ridiculed me and hated me will pay. Everyone who treated me like garbage or ran my name through the mud will suffer a fate worse the burning in hell for the rest of eternity. They're all going to pay, and it'll be all Vlad's fault. He's at the top of the list, and what better way of getting back at him then to convince everyone that he sent us here? Two birds, on stone," he said with a twisted smile.

"You…you're a monster. A monster!" Jazz yelled as she picked up a few rocks and began to throw them at him. Danny swung his scythe, deflecting the rocks in unamusement as the smile fell from his face. Danny vanished, disappearing before she could even blink, a thin trail of smoke left in his place. Jazz swallowed hard, but before she could even take another breath, she paused as she felt the presence behind her. As he brought the blade up to her throat, Jazz looked on in fear, her reflection like a dark mockery in the black, glowing material. "Da-Danny?"

"I don't want to hurt you Jazz. Or Mom and Dad. But I can't have you all getting in my way and messing up my plans. So I'll give you a choice: join me or fall with the rest of this world."

Jazz stared at his reflection in disbelief. Did he honestly believe that she would bretray everyone and join him in this crazy pursuit he was on just because he was threatening her life? Sure normal people would have jumped on the deal at as soon as he had offered. But even with the cold metal of the blade only inches from her throat, Jazz couldn't bring herself to say yes. She loved her brother, but whoever this person was that held her life before him, was not the Danny she knew.

"No…" she whispered, tears falling onto the blade. "I'm sorry, but I can't join you. I can't help you and watch as you destroy the world in your personal vendetta. But no matter what, I will always love you, little brother."

"I'm sorry too, Jazz," he said and for brief second, she could hear the sincerity of the old Danny in his voice. "I love you too, sis, but I can't let you live. I'll make this quick."

Jazz watched as the blade lifted above her head. Slowly, she closed her eyes, reflecting on her life and all the time she had spent with Danny, whether they were good or bad, whether they were comforting each other or arguing, whether they were fighting ghost or fighting off their mother's dinner, and, much to anyone's surprise, she smiled. Though things were not going the way she had hoped in her life, all of her memories of her brother were enough to comfort her in her final moments on this plane of existence. Her eyes tighten as the sound of the scythe slicing through the air and descended upon her.

**So for all of my usual readers and followers who knew I was writing a YJ/DP fanfiction, this was not, I repeat, NOT the original idea and story line I have planned out. This is a side story not related to my other one that I came up with and felt like writing. Now I will be making this a multi-chapter story, but I decided to just put the prologue up and get some feedback. I don't know when I will update this, but I'm sure it will be soon. Hope you enjoyed it so far and are looking forward to more.**


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Accident

8 Months Ago…

October 16, 2010 12:37 CST

This was a strange process, no matter how often it happened to him. There was no way he as was ever going to get used to it. To have his sister helping him was one thing, especially considering how disastrous that had turned out, but this was downright madness. He had plenty of help already with his two best friends by his side, and then there was the hot-headed ghost hunter of his ex-girlfriend who, thankfully, had forgiven him and started to help take some of the slack off of him. Logically, he had all the help he needed and could handle so to have anymore would probably just be overkill. He should say something, he knew he should. But he also knew this wouldn't have done him much good. This was definitely the weirdest situation he'd ever gotten himself into in his entire career as a ghost hunter.

"Danny, I think you should say something to them," Jazz said as she stood next to her brother in their basement, both staring in wide-eyed disbelief.

"I know, Jazz, but you know how Mom and Dad get; once they get an idea in their heads, they can't be reasoned with," Danny replied, his eyes still on his eccentric parents who were hard at work on…something.

Danny would be sure to add this to his list of dumbest things he's ever done in his life: allowing his parents to help him fight ghosts. After almost two years fighting ghosts, Danny had finally built up the courage to tell his parents that he was, in fact, Danny Phantom, town hero (or menace, depending on who you talked to). To say that they were shocked was an understatement; there was still a crack in the floor where his father had fainted from the news. Of course, they were more than proud and supportive of him, but he did have to deal with being grounded for a week for lying to them which was an easy trade off to getting blasted or experimented on. Jazz, on the other hand, didn't take it as well that she had to suffer the same fate for also lying to them and continuously trying to cover for his lie.

After that, Danny was able to get a little more breathing room with his parents able to assist him, like when he over slept and got to school late. A simple note or a phone call to the office, and Danny was off the hook. Of course, not everything changed. His family was still overly protective and excitable when it came to him ghost hunting. Not only that, but his parents, his father especially, were always coming up with new gadgets and devices that they were sure would help him, and though he was grateful that they were willing to him, he often found himself exhausted from their energy.

"Um, Mom, Dad?" Danny called as he and his sister slowly moved closer to their parents. "What…um…what is this…thing?"

"Kids, prefect timing!" Jack said with enthusiasm as he lifted the wielder's mask from his face. "Come check out our newest invention guaranteed to help out with the ghost problem!"

"What does it do?" he asked cautiously as he looked at the large circular metallic disk where he could see his mother standing on the opposite side with a large smile on her face that showed her satisfaction. The ring, which had a striking resemblance to the opening of the Fenton Portal in the back of the room, laid vertically like a large hoop between two platforms, one above them and the other below that Maddie had just finished working on. As Danny looked over the device, his mind quickly jumped to the idea of it being some type of containment chamber to house ghosts in, but he didn't see why his parents would go through the trouble of making that when they already had numerous ones currently not in use.

"This device is designed to read the brainwaves housed in the ectoplasmic bodies of ghosts, similar to what a MRI does to the human brain," Maddie said as she walked around the device and stood before her two children. "Much like a normal scanner, it will be able to detect certain types of brainwaves in the ghosts that have been put between the ring right here." Pointing at the device, Maddie began to explain the process. "The Ghost would be placed here, inside of the ring. Once inside, a Ghost Shield will be automatically activated at the first detection of ecto-energy. From there, your father or I would head over to the control panel, activating the ring that will rise and send an electromagnetic pulse through the ghost's body."

"And what exactly does is the pulse supposed to do to the ghosts?" Jazz asked.

"It scans for the any negative energies in the Ghost's form, and repressed it until it is completely nonexistent. Removing malevolence from the ghost and making it benevolent," Maddie concluded with a smile.

"So…you've created a device that's supposed to make bad ghost good?" Danny asked in disbelief.

"That's right, sweetie. The way your father and I see it, we needed a way to help lower the number of attacks in town and to help you so you can get more rest. And what better way than to lower the number of evil ghost that come here because, someone, has shown us that not all ghosts are bad." Maddie smiled down at her son before placing a small kiss on his head, receiving a smile from the young boy.

"Thanks a lot guys. It really does mean a lot to me knowing that you're working so hard to help me," Danny said.

"So what is the name of this wondrous invention?" Jazz asked sarcastically, knowing it was going to be something outrageous.

"I call it the Fenton Flipper!" Jack said proudly as he stuck out his chest.

"Interesting. And what-" Jazz was cut off as a loud siren and a flashing red life as it bathed the room. "Oh great, what now?"

"That's the perimeter breach alarm," Jack said, grabbing an ectobazooka. "Some ecto-scum has invaded Jack Fenton's house, so now it's time for Jack Fenton to paste that ghost all over the wall! Oh, no offense, son."

"None taken, Dad," Danny said, tapping into his core and allowing the white rings to form around his body. As the two energized loops scanned over his body, changing his DNA from human to ghost and leaving him in his jumpsuit, Danny was shocked as a feminine voice echoed through the home and down the stairs to the basement.

"Hello? Anyone here? Why are there alarms blaring!?" the panicky voice said, startling Danny as he finished transforming. Green eyes grew wide as his mind began to process who the person was and why she was here, of all places. Of course he knew why she was here because she was obviously looking for him, and he had always told her that she was more than welcome to come to him for help when she needed it, but it still surprised him that she would make her presence known.

A scream caught his attention before the sound of gun fire filled the air on the upper floors of his home.

"Ah! What the hell! What's with all the lasers and the siren!? What's going on!?"

"The ghost defense systems," Danny mumbled to himself in horror as his imagination began to run wild with the various painful things that could be happening to the young girl. "Danielle!" Danny jumped up and flew straight for the stairs, flying as fast as he could to her rescue.

"Danielle?" Jazz said to herself, the name sounding familiar to her yet she was unable to come up with a face or where she had heard the name so similar to her brother's. She was quickly brought out of her thought as she heard two cries as her brother and a small bundle landed on the floor in front of the stairs. Taking in the white hair, pale skin, tired green eyes and the inverted black and white suit, the realization practically smacked her in the face. "Danielle…his clone! That must be who that girl is! Mom, Dad-"

"Get off my son, ghost!" Jack bellowed, opening fire. Danielle screamed in terror as she pushed off of Danny and flew up into the air to avoid getting hit. As Jack continued to open fire, Maddie ran over to the control panel of the Flipper, preparing to use it.

"Get her into the Flipper, Jack! We can you her as a test subject!"

Danielle didn't like the sound of that she continued to dodge the blast coming from the large man, but was having trouble the more she moved around. "Great. It's not bad enough I'm hungry and tired, but now I'm gonna get shot down and used for experiments by Danny's parents," she groaned.

As the battle continued, Jazz, now standing from her hiding spot, got to her feet, and ran toward her mother, hoping she could put an end to all the madness taking place.

"Mom!" She cried. "You've gotta stop! That's-"

"Not now, Jazz! You're father and I are trying to catch a ghost!"

Danny groaned as he rubbed his head and sat up. As he eyes tried to adjust to the lighting in the room and his mind started paying attention to what was happening around him, he made a mental note that he and Danielle were going to have to stop running into each other like that. A scream caught his attention, and Danny looked on in horror as Danielle fell from the air and landed on the ground with a loud thud, her body smoking from being hit and a small twitch shaking her.

"Ha! Got you, ghosty!" Jack said proudly as he picked her up by her arm and made his way toward the Flipper. Danny could feel his blood run cold as she was placed on the metal disk and a bright green light activated above her. "Ok, Mads, as soon as the shield is up, we'll give the Fenton Flipper a good test run on this evil little spook." Looking over to the control panel, Danny watched as his sister tried to reason with his mother who paid the girl no attention in the slightest. A low hum brought his eyes back to the Flipper as a green shield began to lower from the ceiling over the ring that held Danielle's unconscious form.

"Danielle!" Danny cried, dashing forward past his father who looked at him in confusion. Just as the shield was about to completely lower and trap the young girl, Danny slid in, groaning as his chest rubbed roughly against the metal, and causing him to bump into the unmoving girl. Ignoring his own pain, Danny picked her up and held her so that her head rested in the crook of his arm. Dark circles hung under her eyes, contrasting with her pale skin while her once clean hair now stuck out more than usual with the edges slightly singed and dirty. Her jumpsuit wasn't much better with the various tears and rips in it, exposing her skin in various places, but also reminding him that she was still a growing girl. "Dani…I'm so sorry. If I had known-"

"Danny!" Looking up, Danny caught the terrified look in his sister's eyes as she looked at the two with her hands against the shield. "You've get out of there! Change back!"

"I can't, Jazz. I can't forcibly change Danielle back to normal, and I can't just leave her," he said, as panic began to paint his face. A low humming startled him as the ring around him and Danielle began to hum and activate, a low blue light of electricity coating the inside of the ring. "Oh crap! Mom!" Danny said, watching as his mother frantically tried to turn the machine off.

"Something's wrong! The machine isn't stopping!" She cried as she continued to flip switches and press emergency off buttons, but the machines only seemed to ignore the commands. Jack quickly ran over to his wife and tried to assist her but he too was having virtually no luck.

"I can't get to Danny!" Jazz yelled as she pushed against the shield. "I thought Ghost shields didn't work on humans!?"

"This one is specially designed to prevent ANYONE from getting through until the procedure is over! We put it in as a failsafe to prevent ghost from possessing a person if they got to close! None of us can get to them unless we can turn this thing off!" Maddie cried, almost in hysterics at the thought of her son getting hurt in the tests.

"Jazz!" Danny cried. Turning back to her brother, Jazz watched as he stood, clutching the younger Phantom to him as the ring began to rise and electricity began to fire across the circle. Danny's eye's became frantic as he looked at the bolts of energy that shot out. As the first pulse hit him, he gave a yelp of surprise as he felt his feet go numb for a second before the pain came and the ring began to rise to his ankles. Danny bit his lower lip in an attempt to sustain his cries of pain, but had little time to focus on that as the numbing effect crawled up his legs followed quickly by more pain. As the ring came to his waist, Danny couldn't hold back anymore and screamed out in pain. His screamed were soon followed by the screams of the girl is his arms as the ring crawled over her as well.

Jazz looked on in horror, backing away and covering her mouth as her tears ran down her face. Having never seen anything or experienced anything this painful before in her life, she was speechless as she watched the two convulse and shake in pain. To make matters worse, a loud buzzing sound caught her attention. Looking up, Jazz watched as sparks began to fly from the top of the tube before a small explosion went off. Jazz cover her face as the heat of the sparks began to fall down upon the lab floor.

Jazz didn't know what to do. Looking back to her parents for guidance, Jazz could feel her heart pounding in panic as they too looked at the machine that was, without a doubt, malfunctioning. Danny's cries made her turn back just as the ring was about to rise over his head. As he held his hand out toward her, Jazz felt weak and powerless as he little brother shook with pain.

"Jazz! Help us!" he yelled, green eyes pleading with her. As the ring finally came about their heads, the green of both Phantoms' eyes disappeared as they rolled into the back of their heads and their screams bounced off of the walls of the lab.

"DANNY!" his family yelled in unison before the room was engulfed a bright light as electricity wrapped around the shield, disrupting it and sending out waves green heat, tossing Jazz backwards. Jack quickly braced himself as his daughter slammed into him and he held her, keeping her from getting hurt. As another wave came toward them, Maddie flipped the nearest table that the three used as a barrier to brace against the power. The turned over table shook, but that did nothing to stop Jazz as she looked over the edge and had to cover her eyes as her hair was swept back and a bright light filled the room.

The one thing that would haunt Jazz for the rest of her life would the screams of agonizing pain she heard from the two and the site of the chamber exploding as the small area was engulfed in smoke and fire. Jazz watched as two glowing figured shot off into the direction of the portal, but that was all she had seen before Maddie yanked her daughter down and covered her head as the fire flew over and around their small fort, charring everything around them.

As the fires continued to burn and the smoke emitted from the chamber, a crackling sound filled the room. Maddie turned toward the portal just as the electricity vibrated and sparked erratically and the dimensional opening groaned as a warning blared from the panel next to it. Even from the distance she was at, Maddie could tell that it was a warning sign that they need to move, and fast.

"We've got to get out of here, now!" She yelled.

"But what about Danny!? They fell into the portal!"

"Danny will be fine, Jazz! He knows the Ghost Zone better than any of us, but right now we need to move!"

With one last glance at the green mass of energy, Jazz turned and darted up the stairs, her parents not far behind. As Maddie crossed the threshold, she slammed the metal door close, activating the reinforced lock just before an explosion vibrated, shaking the house in anger under the weight of the powerful energy. As the rumbling came to a stop, the three Fenton's remained quiet, the only sounds coming from their ragged breathing as they tried to focus on what they had just experienced. Jazz walked over to the door, her body shaking before putting her hand on the lock and opening the door. Her eyes widened at the site of their basement, covered in devastation and destruction.

"Danny!" she said before rushing down the stairs. Maddie and Jack quickly followed, but found themselves speechless as they looked around their lab. Maddie looked to their lab table that had been their makeshift shield and was horrified to see it completely destroyed, imagining what would have happened to her family had they stayed even a second longer.

"The portal…" turning her head, Maddie found her daughter on her knees in front of the large hole in the wall that now held the remains of what was once the Fenton Portal, but was now nothing but a devastated pile of metal and wires. Shuffling over, Maddie couldn't believe her eyes as she stared at it, ignoring the sobs of her daughter.

"Danny…he's trapped…in the Ghost Zone…" she mumbled as the realization of what had happened and what Jazz had said before they ran from the room only moments ago fully connected with her mind.

"Maybe there's another way to get him out of there," Jack tried to say comfortingly, but Jazz only shook her head, knowing that the only other portal was Vlad's and if Danny and Danielle went there…

"Mom, what are we gonna do?" Jazz mumbled. "What about Danny?"

"I…I don't know, Jazz…I just…don't know…" she said as the tears came to her eyes as well and she fell to the ground next to her daughter. Covering her face, Maddie let out a loud cry as the pain of her lost son hit her hard. Jazz grabbed onto her mother and cried into her shoulder, something she hadn't done since she was a little girl while Jack made his way over to the two women and held them, his own silent tears mixing with theirs.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Return

One month later…

November 25, 2010, 14:31 CST; Thanksgiving

The last month had been hell on the Fenton family. After the accident that virtually destroyed their lab, Jack and Maddie had been hard at work sorting and cleaning up the mess that they had created. As Maddie swept the floor of all the glass and debris, she would often gaze at the now destroyed Fenton Flipper pad. Wires from the device hung from the ceiling as well as from various spots on the ground panel while the ring had been completely obliterated in the explosion. The top of the surface was covered in scorch marks except for a small section in the center where her son had been standing, cradling the small girl that they had attacked so mercilessly without even thinking about the repercussions of their actions. Much like they had been doing for so long which not only lead to their son becoming a half ghost, but them attacking him at every turn. Maddie could feel the guilt clench her stomach as she turned and gazed at the now destroyed Fenton Portal.

A month and a half later and they still had made no progress it getting it functional again. After many long hours of inspection, they had not only determined that it was almost completely useless, but the cause of the explosion which seemed to be an electrical pulse that fried the circuitry on the inside of the Portal. Of course Maddie knew exactly where the pulse had come from; the two hybrids that had been flung into the swirling green door to the Ghost Zone. With how much electricity that had to have been going through Danny and Danielle, it was no surprise that it overloaded. Though that was the least of her concerns at the moment.

Maddie couldn't help the morbid thoughts that drifted into her mind whenever she thought about that day, and the nightmares didn't help. The painful screams would forever haunt her as she thought about her son and his…clone. That was another thought that she was still struggling to deal with. Some madman, whom Jazz had refused to tell them about, had taken her son's DNA and had made a genetic copy of him, except that there seemed to be a problem with the copy. Instead of a perfect, fifteen year old version of her son, there was now a twelve year old little girl with the same make up as him, from his crystal clear eyes and black hair, to the ectoplasmic infused DNA that coursed through him. If she had known about all this earlier, would it have made a difference? Would they have not attacked her? Would she and Danny still be alive?

Maddie shook her head of these thoughts that seemed to come very often. There was no way for her to know what had happened to the two, and thinking such thoughts were not going to help to find them. No, now was the time to focus. They needed to get the Portal up and running again so that they could look for them. She'd be damned if she was going to give up on her baby boy so easily.

Looking over toward her husband, Maddie found him at the work table with Sam and Tucker, Danny's two best friends, looking over the blueprints to the gateway. Maddie could say that the two of them were probably the greatest gift in the world that her son could have ever asked for. They had been through so much before Danny even got his powers, had been there for him and helped him when he tried to save the town and were now doing everything in their power to help to bring him back to the living world. It didn't take long for the two teens to realize that something was wrong when Danny had stopped answering his phone and neither he nor Jazz had shown up to school in almost a week. Maddie could still remember the panicked and horrified look on their faces as Jazz retold the story of the lab explosion as well as the arrival and departure of Danny and their unexpected guest, Danielle. Sam and Tucker begged and pleaded with the Fentons to let them help to find Danny in any way they possibly could, and even though Jack and Maddie wanted to tell them it was too dangerous, they both knew that these two were probably their best chance of finding Danny, especially since they had not only been to the Ghost Zone but had helped him to make a map of the locations in there. Their knowledge of the otherworldly was not only amazingly technical it also stunned the two older humans that their own children could be so proficient in something that they themselves had thought they were experts in.

So for the last month, they had been trying to help them repair the Fenton Portal, but as of now, the progress had been so slow, they were unsure of how long it would take them to actually get it working again. Much to Maddie's surprise, Sam had been very handy with a lot of tools that they had, especially the wielding torch. Maddie believed that Sam was working so hard because, though she knows that the young girl would deny it, she had feelings for Danny and wanted more than anything to ensure that he was safe. It had gotten to the point that some nights she had to force Sam to go stay in one of the guest rooms and get some sleep. And then there was Tucker, who had proven himself to be very knowledgeable when it came to technology and reading blueprints. With Tucker's help, they had been able to work around many of the bugs and destroyed parts on the inside of the portal. Everyone was working so hard to fix the device. Everyone except Jazz.

After the accident, Jazz had refused to go anywhere near the basement, claiming that she could still hear Danny and Danielle's screams echoing off the soundproof walls and that it would haunt her for the rest of her life if she stayed in there too long. For the first week, she had completely refused to even speak to her parents, her eyes filled with both sadness at the loss of her brother and hatred toward them for not listening to her when she had been trying to warn them. Maddie agreed with her daughter that it was their fault about everything that happened to Danny, but her nasty attitude toward was not going to help and was becoming counterproductive them when they need answers now more than ever. Eventually Jazz broke down and cried, telling her mother how sorry she was and that she really wanted to help them in some way, but couldn't bring herself to enter the lab. Maddie understood her reasons, and so never pushed her to help with the repairs, but instead, encouraged her to help in other ways. So for the most part, Jazz was around making meals for the others, preparing the guest rooms when needed and helping Sam and Tucker to stay on top of their homework so that their parents allowed them to partake in their "after school work". At the moment, Maddie could hear a soft humming coming from the kitchen as her daughter made a Thanksgiving meal for them all. Though Maddie was glad to see Jazz active and trying to distract herself, she couldn't help the empty feeling she got as she thought about how Danny wasn't going to be eating with them. She wondered if they were even eating at all.

Another thing that Maddie noticed was the sudden decrease in ghost activity to the point it was basically non-existent, reinforcing the idea that it had been their portal that all of the ghosts had been coming through for the past two years. When she thought back, it was too surprising, but she should have had a better handle on that from the beginning. Of course this sparked the town's interest as the Ghost Boy had sudden disappeared as well, prompting the Mayor, Vlad Masters, to place all the blame for the ghosts on her son, which only angered her more. She didn't know what Vlad knew about ghost or about Danny as Phantom, but she knew that she would be keeping a close eye on him. Thankfully, Valarie had picked up the slack and was handling the ghost hunting very well on her own, especially when she had heard about what happened to Danny and Danielle. She was crushed to hear that they had been hurt and trapped in the Ghost Zone, knowing how horrific it could be from personal experience, but she kept faith that if there was anyone who could survive in there, it was those two.

Of course, with Danny being gone, school became an issue. After missing a week of school, Casper High called to ensure that Danny was alright and to inform his parents of his absences. They knew that they couldn't say that he was sick because it was only a matter of time before people started to question how sick he really was if he was missing that much school and had not been admitted into a hospital. Luckily, an idea came to mind that they could use until they figured out a solution. When they called the next morning, they notified the school that Danny would be staying with his aunt for an undetermined amount of time because he was helping her with some things. The school accepted that, and asked that they be notified upon his planned return to school. Maddie and Jack were grateful for the temporary fix, knowing that it would only work for so long, but decided that they would burn that bridge when they came to it.

"How's it going over here?" she asked as she made her way over to the desk.

"Well we think we'll be able to repair the wiring on this lower paneling, but it looks like everything against the back wall is going to have to be replaced," Jack said.

"I'm guessing that this was the center point of the explosion after Danny and Danielle's electromagnetically charged pulses shot out when they came into contact with the energy from the portal," Tucker said as he continued to examine the schematics. "It definitely overloaded everything in the portal, but that area was damaged the most. It'll take a while to repair."

"So what do you supposed we do?" Sam asked as she stood in her black overalls, wrench in hand. "I doubt that there are spare Portal parts anywhere in town that we can just up and take to replace these parts."

"Well what about the Fenton Flipper?" Maddie asked, looking over the plans. "A good number of these parts are the same, if not similar. I'm sure we can use them."

"It won't do for all of them, but it is a good start," Tucker said as he nodded in agreement with Maddie. "Good thinking Mrs. F."

"So does that mean I can take this thing apart?" Sam asked with a smile on her face as she eyed the machine she felt was responsible for her friend's disappearance. "Finally, I've been waiting to-"

A bright light caused her to stop mid sentence as the entire room was engulfed in it. The four occupants looked on in surprise and terror at the light, which now appeared to be coming from the space right above the Flipper panel. The light soon turned green as a mass of what appeared to be ectoplasm formed in front of them, spinning clockwise in a circle as they all instantly recognized what it was.

"My god…is that…" Maddie whispered in awe.

"A portal! It's a ghost portal!" Sam yelled.

Loud moans charged from the opening, bouncing off the walls which carried the sound waves up the stairs and into the kitchen, directly into the ears of the red headed teenage girl who nearly dropped the bowl she was mixing to the floor. Jazz could feel her blood run cold as the memories from that day shook her to the very core of her being, but she couldn't help the other feeling that seemed to be building as well. Hope. Jazz was sure that she had been imagining things, her mind playing tricks on her because of her feelings of missing her brother, but then her suspicions were confirmed when she heard Sam's cry.

"A portal! It's a ghost portal!"

That was all the proof that Jazz needed as she tossed the now forgotten bowl of potato salad onto the table and ran down the stairs, entering the lab, something she hadn't done in well over a month, to find her family and her brother's friends staring at the green dimensional doorway with awe and disbelief.

"But, how? How is that even possible?"Jack asked as he continued to look upon the opening.

"It must be a natural portal," Sam said before turning to friend. "Tucker-"

"Already on it!" he said, PDA in hand as he scanned over the energy radiating from the portal.

"What's a natural portal?" Jazz asked as the two went to work.

"Natural portals are portals that connect the Ghost Zone and Earth without being made by someone. Some ghosts have the ability to create portals, but most have to use a portal that was created naturally or built, like the Fenton Portal."

"Well then what are we waiting for!? We have to go and get Danny-"

"It's not that simple, Jazz," Tucker said, still looking at his PDA as he scanned the energy for any traces of familiar ectoplasmic DNA of the ghosts they've come into contact with. "We can't just go charging into the Ghost Zone through this portal without knowing anything about it. Natural portals are only open for a few minutes to a couple of hours at most. Some do re-open in the same place frequently, but with this being the first time one has opened up here like this, if we just went into it, we would most likely just end up getting ourselves stuck in there too. Not to mention that if this isn't a natural portal, then that means that a ghost made it, which also means that they could be waiting for us on the other end if they're not coming through themselves."

No sooner had Tucker finished speaking did a loud cry resound from inside the green tunnel. The five humans once again tensed up, preparing themselves to have to jump into action when Tucker's PDA beeped with recognition. Tucker looked down and stared in wide-eyed disbelief at the information on his screen.

"Oh my god!"

"What is it, Tucker?" Sam said, running over to him and looking at the screen over his shoulder. Her eyes soon followed his as well as her mouth gapped and tears began to come forth. "Oh my…"

"Kids, what is it?" Maddie asked, but before she could take a step toward them, the sounds of the cry grew louder as the person doing so came closer and closer to the entrance before a green streak shot out of the portal, skidding across the floor. Seconds later the portal closed, but no one paid it any attention as all their eyes fell onto the person laying before them on the ground. Jazz could feel the adrenaline pumping through her as the person sat up, cradling a small bundle in his arms. Loud panting filled the room as green tired eyes scanned the room while long, ragged white hair hung around and clung to his dirty pale face that was drenched in sweat.

It didn't matter what he looked like, Jazz knew her younger brother when she saw him, even if he looked like a feral beast that had just gone through hell and back.

"Danny!" everyone cried in unison as the three teens ran toward him. Danny looked around at them as they all knelt, carefully trying to touch him so as not to hurt him more then he already looked like he was. Danny watched each of them carefully before a hysterical laugh escaped his chapped lips. The sound of his laughter startled everyone before they all felt sympathy for the boy as tears fell from his eyes and he gave the small bundle in his arms a tight squeeze. Upon closer inspection, Jazz was able to make out long, tangled white hair with splotches of green blood in it as well as a head band made out of what looked to be a tattered part of Danny's jumpsuit that was missing parts from the pants and completely missing his shirts which was being used as a blanket for the bundle that Jazz realized was Danielle.

"We made it…" he mumbled as he cried into her hair. "We made it, Dani! We finally made it! We're home! We've finally made it home!" Pulling the girl away from his chest that was bloodied and bruised, Danny could only cry as he looked upon the hurt girl. "After so long, we finally made it home. Everything's going to be ok now." No sooner had he finished speaking did his eyes roll slowly backwards and his eyelids close. Danny's body went slack as he fell backwards, arms loosing before he hit the ground unconscious. Danielle fell back with him, her head landing on his chest as her hair sprawled out around her.

Two bright flashes came from the both the tired hybrids as the rings that were known for changing their DNA sparkled over them both, leaving them in their human forms. Danny's human form looked just as bad as his ghost form. His shirt was also missing, showing off his bloodied and beaten chest while his pants were torn and his shoes were missing. Danielle's hair was still just as tangled, while the bandages that were once the same color as her's and Danny's jumpsuits was now pure white like Danny's t-shirt with splotches of red blood. Danny's jumpsuit jacket had disappeared, leaving her in a tattered hoodie that was completely ripped and showed her red undershirt that matched her worn red shorts. Her feet were covered in dirt and blood as one of her shoes was missing, leaving her white sock to protect her foot. Everyone stared at the two in shock before Maddie's mind kicked into gear and her instincts took over.

"Everyone, get moving, now!" She said, going into general mode. "Jazz, you and Sam take Danielle up to mine and your father's bathroom. Get her bathed and bandaged up. Jack, you and Tucker do the same for Danny. I'll go look for some clothes for them and call your parents to let them know you'll be staying the night since I'm sure neither one of you is going to want to be away from Danny and I'm sure he'll want to see you when he wakes up." Everyone nodded and got to work on their assignments.

Sam dropped her wrenched and picked Danielle up as she cradled the young Phantom, resting her head in the crook of her arm. Turning back to look at Danny, she could feel the fear and dread pumping through her as Jack and Tucker carefully picked up an arm each of the boy hero, and slung them around their shoulders. Tucker looked up to his friend and gave her a reassuring smile, letting her know that everything was going to be ok. Sam smiled backed and turned toward the stairs where she bolted after Jazz who was already on her way up the stairs. Running through the kitchen, Jazz quickly turned off all of the cooking devices she had been using. The last thing they needed was to have the house burn down while they were treating the two.

Once that was done, she turned to Sam and signaled for her to follow after her, leading her up the stairs and down the hall to her parent's room. Sam was surprised to find that the room was actually very normal looking compared to the rest of the house. Of course Sam knew better then to think that any room in this house other then Danny and Jazz's rooms were normal, especially this room where the two hunter parents slept every night. There were probably weapons hidden all around here, but she had little time to dwell on that thought as she followed Jazz into the bathroom connected to the bedroom. Jazz kneeled down and turned the water onto a warm temperature and added soap to it while the tub filled up.

"Strip her and place her in the water when the tub is full. I'll go get some medical supplies and those clothes from my Mom," Jazz said. Sam nodded her head as the older girl left and looked down to the girl still in her arms. Rubbing a hand softly against her cheek, Sam couldn't help but wonder what happened to her and Danny while they were gone.

"No time to think about that now, Sam," she said to herself. Kneeling next to the tub, she slowly and carefully began to remove Danielle's clothing, starting with her red hat that was ripped apart beyond repair. As she lifted the hoodie over her head and then the t-shirt, Sam made a mental note to mention to Maddie that Danielle was going to need to go bra shopping after the cuts and bruise on her ribcage healed up. From there she removed her pants, single shoe, socks and underwear before gently placing her into the warm water.

Sam watched as a large amount of dirt and blood began to fade from her skin and blend into the water. Grabbing a small washcloth, Sam dipped it into the soapy water and began to scrub away all the remaining blood and dirt in small, soft circles so as not to agitate her injuries. As she dipped it back into the water, Jazz returned, medical pack, clothes and towel in hand. Kneeling next to Sam, Jazz picked up a bottle of shampoo, squeezing a generous amount into her hands before rubbing it into and through the long locks of dark hair that were almost as long as hers.

"Jazz." Looking over to Sam, Jazz could see the younger girl keep her eyes focused on Danielle but could tell something was bugging her. "Do you think…do you think that they're gonna be ok?"

Jazz blinked, confusion etched onto her face before she faced forward once more to focus on her task. "Of course they're gonna be ok, Sam. I mean, you of all people should know that. Just because they're a little beat up doesn't mean-"

"That's not what I mean. What I mean is…mentally," Sam said slowly, hiding in her hair as it fell around her face. "I've heard of stories of people who get lost in the wilderness and have to fight for survival, and when they get back to civilization, they're not the same as when they left. You're a junior psychologist, what do you think? You don't think this will happen to Danny, do you?"

Jazz was quiet as she scrubbed the dirt and blood from Danielle's hair, but her focus was not on her task. She had taken Sam's words into consideration and couldn't help thinking the same thing. But no matter what she wanted to think, she knew that these were thoughts that she could not think. She had to keep faith that her little brother was still his same old self, and help him, as well as Danielle, come back to normal if he wasn't. And she knew she was gonna need help, and Sam and Tucker were her best bet, meaning she needed to make sure she had the right mindset as well.

"Of course not, Sam," she said, looking at the girl with a smile. Sam looked at her, a bit surprised by her response. "Danny's too tough for that, and he's been through hell and back before. I mean think about it, if he could change the future for all of us, I guarantee he can handle whatever it was that they went through while they were trapped in the Ghost Zone."

Sam stared at her for a moment before she too was smiling. "You're right. Thanks Jazz."

"No problem. Now, let's finish getting Danielle clean and fixed up."

Sam nodded and got back to work. Once Danielle was finally clean, they got to work bandaging her various wounds, the worst being her broken wrist that they had to re-break and set with a pair of splints. Luckily she was still out cold and didn't get to interfere with them during the process. After patting her hair dry and running a comb through it, they dressed Danielle in what Jazz realized was a pair of her old pink teddy bear pajama pants and a blue tank top that was now too small for her. As Jazz looked over their patient, she couldn't help but fret over the very still visible multiple colored bruises that decorated her body and the bandage wrapped securely around her head.

"You don't think we missed anything, do you?" She asked Sam. "These bruises are looking pretty bad."

"Trust me those will go down in a couple of days or so. Danny's had bruises worse than that, but because of his accelerated healing, they vanished in 4, 5 days tops," Sam said.

"If you say so," Jazz sighed as she carefully picked Danielle up and carried her out of the bedroom and back into the living room where her mother had set up a makeshift medical center for them. Danny had already been brought in and was currently resting on a cot wearing only a pair of sweatpants and bandages, the majority of which were wrapped expertly around his well toned torso. Looking over her brother, Jazz could see that his left ankle was wrapped in gauze, informing her that he had probably sprained it at best while he had many more bruises on his upper torso then Danielle had which also told her that he had gotten himself hurt protecting her. '_Danny and his stupid hero complex. It'll be the death of him one day, I swear.'_ She then proceeded to place Danielle gently on the cot that was next to Danny's while her mother placed a breathing mask over her face much like she had on Danny's.

"Good job, everyone," Maddie said, standing and looking at everyone.

"So what do we do now?" Sam asked, looking at the two unconscious half-breeds.

"For now, the only thing we can do is wait for them to wake up and hope for the best," Maddie said solemnly before she put a smile on her face. "Why don't we all go into the kitchen and help Jazz finish dinner to take our minds off things. We now have two things to be thankful for and a reason to celebrate." Everyone smiled a bit at this, looking at the even breathing of Danny and Danielle before turning and heading into the kitchen to finish preparing their dinner. Everyone except Sam who continued to stare at Danny's still form. Walking up, she placed a small kiss on his forehead, wiping away her few stray tears.

"Welcome back, Danny. I really missed you, so hurry up wake up."

**To DMC Fanboy, I'm glad that you enjoy my stories. The way I come up with my stories is I take things that I like to see or that I remember dreaming about, and work from that. Recently, I'd read a couple of stories with Danny turning evil, but it was always because he was tortured or depressed or blackmailed. Though that route is good, I wanted to try something different, and since the Fenton's inventions generally backfire, why not on here too? And why not add Danielle into it because she's just as awesome too. Also, when I write, I like to look at it from the perspective of the character; like if that were me, how would I react? It's generally the same with characters from other shows because you just have to put yourself into their mind set and imagine how they would react if you were them. I also write stories that I know that I would and enjoy reading because I do reread my own stories in between posting chapters. The imagination is a wondrous thing and can lead you to many outcomes. Lol. **


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Awakening

November 28, 2010, 7:28 CST

The slow and low beep of the twin heart monitors as they echoed across the room was the only thing that could be heard as Sam rose from her sleep. The eerie sea green light from the screen reflected in her eyes as she stood up from the couch and carefully made her way over to the two still sleeping halfas while trying not to step on or wake Tucker who was sleeping on the floor next to the couch. Her toes rubbed softly against the carpet as her sweatpants hung low on her hips, allowing her shirt to expose her midriff, but Sam paid it no attention to that as she checked Danielle's vitals first.

For the last three days Sam and Tucker have been helping keep constant surveillance over their friend and his clone as they rested up from their month long ordeal. They had called their parents and told them that they wouldn't be home until at least the end of the weekend. Tucker's parents where perfectly fine with him staying over at his best friend's house, but Sam's mother and father weren't so keen on the idea. Sam wasn't surprised about this in the slightest, but lucky for her, Jazz had come through and convinced her parents that it was very important that Sam stay over. Being that she was the only Fenton that her parents actually liked, she had much more leeway in convincing them that Sam was a very important part of what they were doing. Thankfully, not only did they buy that, but Sam's grandma had promised to keep them preoccupied in case she wanted to stay longer, making that one less thing that she needed to worry about. To be honest, she wasn't thinking about anything other than making sure Danny was ok.

Kneeling next to the unconscious girl, Sam watched as her small chest rose and descended as the oxygen poured into her body via the mask. Sam carefully lifted the blue tank top and checked the bandages that were only slightly soaked with blood, causing her to sigh in relief.

"Thank god. She's finally started healing," Sam said as she pulled the girl's shirt back down before picking up her left wrist and examining it. Sam knew she was no expert when it came to medicine, but what few skills she did have had definitely come in handy. But Sam couldn't deny that she was always scared that Danny would come back with an injury that she wouldn't be able to fix. Something so bad that it would leave a permanent mark on not just his body, but on her mind as a constant reminder of her failure. Something so bad that Danny wouldn't come back from. It was because of this that Sam had decided that she would grow up to be a doctor. Someone who could help people to preserve the precious thing known as life, and someone who could protect the ones she cared about even without superpowers.

As she carefully lifted Danielle's wrist, she caught a small groan that escaped the preteen's mouth, and though this was a bad thing, Sam saw it as a good sign as it was the first reaction that either she or Danny had given them since they showed up.

"Ugh…" a low moan came, catching Sam's attention. Turning around, the girl saw movement coming from the other cot as the occupant slowly moved his hand up to head, but stopped as the tightness of the bandages and the pain that they were trying to relieve shot through him. "Ow! Son of a bi-"

"Danny?" Sam asked in disbelief as she gazed at him wide eyed. Danny turned his head, looking at his friend as his eyes too grew wide.

"Sam? Is that you? I mean, is that the real you? This isn't just another dream?" he asked slowly letting his eyes trial over her bed head, wrinkled shirt and low hanging sweatpants that seemed to hold his attention longer than any other part of her. Sam said nothing as she turned around and looked down into his clear blue eyes that seemed to sparkle as they gazed into her familiar purple ones. Sam carefully removed the mask before bringing a shaky hand up and tenderly touching his face as she gazed into the eyes that she had missed for so long. As if her mind had separated from her body and decided it was ok to move on its own, Sam soon found herself leaning toward him.

To say that Danny was surprised was an understatement. To say that Sam was surprised was downright unimaginable. Yet here Sam found herself, lips tenderly planted on Danny's as a few tears fell from her face in an ultra cheesy movie styled kiss. Oh the hypocritical irony that she was feeling was definitely going to bite her in the ass later, and she knew it, but at the moment, she could care less. Danny's shock soon wore off as his eyes closed and he began to kiss back. Neither teen paid any mind to anything happening to them, like the sound of Danny's heartbeat monitor as his pulse began to increase rapidly, causing the machine to beep faster than it was before. They also paid no attention to the sound of the click of the camera shutter or the sounds of feet as they came down the stair. They did, however hear the very loud sound of someone shouting at them.

"Oh. My. God!" Jumping back, Sam and Danny, who sat up slightly, looked to the bottom of the stairs to find Jazz, staring at them while Tucker sat in his spot on the ground, grinning like an idiot with his PDA in hand. "Sam!"

"Jazz!?"

"Danny!"

"Jazz!?" He said nervously looking at her.

"I knew it! I knew you two were love birds!" Tucker cheered as he laughed at their expressions.

"Tucker!" Both teens yelled in unison before blushing and looking away from each other.

"What the hell is going on!?" Jazz asked as she rushed over to them, a disapproving look on her face as she put her hands on her hips. "Well? Someone say something!"

"Um, uh…"Sam stammered as she tried to find away to explain to Danny's sister that she had just forced herself onto him, but every idea she came up with just sounded worse than the last.

"Well I'm glad to see that nothing's changed since I've been gone," Danny said as he carefully shifted and sat on the edge of the cot, allowing his feet to rest on the soft carpet he had missed so much. A smile graced his lips as he looked at the dumbfounded look on his sister's face as she realized that he was actually awake, sitting up and talking to her.

"Danny?" Jazz asked as her voice became meek and tears came to her eyes. Breaking out into a run, Jazz went straight over to her brother and brought him into a hug. Unfortunately, she had forgotten about his still healing wounds, causing him hiss in pain. Jazz quickly let go of him as she apologized repeatedly. "Sorry, sorry, sorry!"

"It's ok, Jazz. And trust me, if I could move any part of my upper body without feeling some type of pain, I'd be hugging you back."

"It's ok, Danny," Jazz said as tears came to her eyes and a smile came to her face. "I'm just glad that you're home and safe now."

"Me too, Jazz. And I'm really, really sorry for worrying you guys and disappearing for-" Danny paused as he tried to think back to how long he'd been gone. "Um…how long have I been gone, exactly?"

The three teens looked at him in confusion. How could he not know that he was gone for almost two months? Had he not known or had a way to keep track of time while in the Ghost Zone? To be honest, they knew that that was a stupid question because the Ghost Zone was a realm for the undead, creatures that had no use for time or devices that told time. Of course there were certain exceptions to this like Princess Dora in the Kingdom of Aragon, Frostbite and the people of the Far Frozen and of course, Clockwork, Master of Time. But the fact that Danny didn't know how long he had been gone meant that he probably had not gone into any of these places, which only opened more questions. But for now, they had to answer him as he was beginning to look a bit annoyed with his eyebrow raised as no one had answered his question.

"Um, Danny," Jazz started carefully as if she were walking on broken glass. "How long do you _think_ you've been gone?"

Danny looked at his sister in confusion before his gaze turned into one of concentration. "Well…if I had to guess, I'd say that it felt like 2, maybe 2 ½ weeks. It was all kinda a blur to be honest. Danielle and I hardly got to sleep while we were floating through the Zone, and trust me, she gets pretty crabby when she hasn't had enough sleep," Danny said, laughing a little even though his ribs hurt. Looking up at his friends, who were looking uncomfortable as they looked at him, caused Danny's smile to fall. "Um, are you guys ok?"

"Well, Danny, it's just-" Sam started, attempting to ease him into it, but was instantly interrupted by Tucker.

"Dude, you've been gone for a month and a half! It's almost December!" he said. A yelp of pain came from him as both girls smacked him in the back of the head. Tucker was about to ask what that was for when he say the horrified look on Danny's face at this information.

"A MONTH AND A HALF!?" Danny shouted as the panic began to pulse through him. "How is that possible!? What happened!? Is the town ok!? How-"

"Danny calm down!" Sam said as she grabbed him by the shoulders and tried to calm down. "You need to relax and-"

"Relax!? Relax!? You expect me to relax!? How can I relax when-"

"Will you shut the hell up!?"

Everyone turned around in surprise to find that it was Danielle who had yelled and stopped Danny's outburst. The young girl was sitting up and glaring at him with glowing green eyes as she huffed in and out, fogging up the breathing mask over her face. As the pain in her chest flared up instantly, Danielle winced and groaned as she fell back onto her cot as she resisted the urge to complete scream in pain while her eyes were twisted closed.

"Danielle!" Danny cried, forgetting about his panicking about the town as his panic for the young girl flared up and took over. Before he could move, Sam was by her side, removing her arms that were wrapped around her, and lifted her shirt to examine her bandages that were now bleeding more than they were before. Jazz made her way over to them, checking that the vitals for Danielle were ok. "Is she ok?"

"Well, she definitely just reopened her wounds, which sucks because her healing had just started," Sam said, grabbing a towel to wipe Danielle's forehead. "We'll have to change the bandages sooner now. I'd give her a pain killer, but normal pills don't work on hybrids because the ectoplasm in your system burns it off before it can have any effect on you. The only thing I'd be able to give her is morphine, and as far as I know, you guys don't keep a steady supply of painkilling liquid in your house."

"I-I'll be ok," Danielle said, finally unclenching her teeth and looking at Sam. "Can you help me up?" Sam nodded her head and carefully slid her hand under the younger girl's back, lifting her slowly so as not to case her anymore pain or discomfort. Once she was fully sitting up, Sam removed her oxygen mask while Danielle relaxed a little and sighed as she looked around the room in confusion. "Where are we? This definitely doesn't look like the Ghost Zone."

"That's cause we're not in the Ghost Zone, Danielle. We're in my living room. We're home," Danny said, smile on his face as Danielle turned to look at him. The look on her face was priceless to him as it went from shock to overwhelming joy. As the tears built up in her eyes, Danny couldn't help feel the same relief that she did.

"I can't believe it," she whispered as she wiped the tears from her eyes. "We're finally back on Earth."

As the young girl finished her crying, the sound of footsteps caught everyone's attention as they turned toward the stairs. There, at the top of the staircase were Jack and Maddie, looking upon them all in confusion. Danielle could feel her pulse quicken as her eyes went wide again and her breathing began to get ragged. The nervousness began to roll off of her in waves that began to spread over the others around her as she gazed at them. The monitor that was still hooked up to her began to beep faster with every second.

"What is going on, and what is-" Maddie stopped as her gaze fell upon her son who was now sitting up and looking at her with a smile. "Danny!" She cried, rushing down the stairs. Before she could grab him, Danny quickly put his hands up in defense.

"Easy, Mom, easy!" he said. "I'm still beat up pretty badly." Maddie nodded her head in understanding as she carefully wrapped her son in a hug. Danny sighed in content as he melted into his mother's hug. He felt a strong hand on his shoulder, and looked to see the giant smile on his father's face. Danny smiled back as relief that he was finally, really home, settled in. However, Danny's relief was short lived as he felt a cold wave wash over him, causing him to slightly shudder. Looking around, Danny saw that everyone around him was visibly shaking from the wave that had hit them all. The loud beeping caught his attention as he looked over to the monitor and the person hooked up to it, and realization crossed his face. "Dani, calm down."

"I-I-I-"Danielle stammered as her body shook like everyone else. "I-I can't!"

"Danny, what's going on?" Sam asked as she looked at everyone else who head the same startled and scared look on their faces.

"Danielle, I need you to calm down, and- look at me!" he said as she tried to look away and bury her face in her hands. "Going invisible isn't going to help this. I need you to calm down, ok? I know you're scared about all this, about being here and meeting them all, especially after the last encounter you had here, but you need to calm down and focus. They aren't going to hurt you. You can't let your fear get the better of you. Remember, you control the power-"

"It doesn't control you," she said with a shaky nod of her head. Taking deep breathes and forcing oxygen into her lungs, Danielle slowly began to focus on the feeling as she opened her eyes, looking at the colored energy that was only visible to her. The yellow energy that had come off of her was now wrapped securely around the occupants of the room in the form of snakes, even Danny, though it seemed to have little effect on him. Danielle held her hand out, willing the yellow snakes to disperse and disappear into nothing as they silently hissed into the ears of their prey. As the fear evaporated, Danielle watched as other colors began to flood from everyone. The most obvious one was the violet color that seemed to radiate off of Danny's family as it swelled around him and spiral, almost like it was protecting him.

Though Danielle didn't know much about her newest power, one thing she had come to learn was that every emotion seemed to be connected to a color, the most common ones being orange and red in the Ghost Zone. Through simple observation and people watching, she was able to guess based on certain attributes that Red was meant to represent anger or rage, while Orange seemed to stand for greed as most of the lower, weaker ghosted seemed to be pining to become stronger. Every creature that had one color also had another color, usually mixed with a second. Red with some Orange or some Yellow, which she had identified with Fear. Some even had multiple colored mixed, but Danielle was too startled and freaked out to try to understand everything about it at the time.

As Danielle watched, she was surprised to see the same Violet coloring coming of off Sam and wrapping around Danny, but hers seemed to be stronger than his family's. Danielle couldn't help smiling a small bit as she watched the teenage girl. It didn't take her new power for her or anyone else to see the love she held for Danny, and vise versa. Everyone who came into contact could see that the two held deep feelings for each other.

Another color caught her attention as she watched it radiate off of Tucker toward Danny as well, but this one Danielle knew very well as it pour off of Danny and onto her as well: Compassion. She had come to realize this while in the Ghost Zone after she had time to talk to him and explain why she had shown up to his house which lead to their current situation. She was worried about how he felt about her, especially since she only seemed to bring him more and more trouble every time she showed up, but he constantly reassured her that he cared for her none the less. Danielle wasn't sure she believed it until she saw the compassion literally roll from his body and into hers. It was at this time that she first discovered the color green on him as well. As Danielle thought about it, Danny had been the only thing in the Zone to actually have green mixed with another color. This definitely confused her, but she had not mentioned it to him. She smiled at the memory, but noticed that her head was starting to hurt from the over stimulation of colors, so she shook her head, clearing her vision and her mind. As she looked back, she suddenly felt nervous again as everyone was now looking at her again.

"Um…hi?" she squeaked.

"Urm…Hello?" Jazz said as the awkwardness began to sink in. "So, you're the infamous Danielle that Danny had mentioned."

"You told them about me?" Danielle asked in surprise as she looked at Danny who nodded his head.

"I don't mean to interrupt the introductions here," Sam said as she looked at Danny, "But mind explaining what exactly that chill was and why we were all so scared?"

Danny looked at Danielle as she turned her head away in embarrassment while he could only smile at her. Everyone turned their gaze back and forth between the two as they tried to pick up on what they were saying.

"That, Sam, was Danielle's newest power," he said. Everyone looked at her in confusion as they tried to understand what exactly this power was.

"But, Danny, how can she have a power like that when you don't?" Tucker asked. "If she's a clone, shouldn't she have the same ones as you?"

"If she were a clone, yes. But it's pretty obvious she's not because if she were, she'd be a fourteen year old boy that looked exactly like me. I'm not exactly sure how she's connected to me, but it's obvious that she is. She also happens to have different powers from me. Like instead of using Ghost-rays like I do, she creates Ecto-disk, and can shoot them from her legs as well as her arms. She's her own person."

"Ok, but what exactly was that power she used?" Maddie asked. "I've never seen or heard of any power like that, and I'm guessing neither has anyone but you two."

"Well, I guess that the best way to describe it would be to call it an aura."

"An aura?" Jack asked.

"The distinctive atmosphere or quality that seems to surround and be generated by a person, thing or place," Danielle said, her eyes still down-casted from everyone who was shocked at her very descriptive definition. "A good example of this would be the glow that ghost give off. When my first manifested, I was scared and tried find out anything about it, but could only find myths and legends that described that the aura of a ghost could force people to be scared of them without them even being scary at all."

"So you were using your Ghostly Aura to make us all scared?" Sam asked in confusion, though to Danielle it sounded more like an accusation, making her nervousness flare up again.

"It's not exactly like that," Danny said, trying to defuse the situation as quickly as possible. "Her ability is that she can see the different emotions that things are able to give off."

"Really? That's so cool!" Tucker said in excitement. "What does it look like?"

"Well…" Danielle said, trying to find a good way to put it. "It's like every emotion has a color assigned to them, but as far as I've been able to tell, the colors only run with the colors spectrum of the Rainbow. Like Red is rage and Orange is greed, and so on. But I've only figured out what maybe five of the colors mean. Sometimes though, the colors will take shapes that are easy to associate with that particular emotion. What happened with all of you is, well…" Danielle paused as her face began to turn red from embarrassment which was accompanied by Danny's laughter. "Shut up!"

"What she's saying is that her new power has two parts to it, the first being that she can see emotions, and the second being that she can control them and influence them. Unfortunately since she has no control, she usually either forces her emotions onto someone by accident, or ends up getting influenced by them herself," Danny explained as he continued to laugh at Danielle as she glared at him. "I can't even tell you how many times she would go through some type of mood swing from super pissed off to scared and timid like a little cat!"

"I said shut up!" She shouted, face red and eyes glowing green.

"Well, I must say that that is a very interesting power," Maddie said with a smile as she giggled a little at the young girl.

"I'll say. With that, she could shut just about anybody and any party down," Jazz said. "Except apparently Danny. He didn't seem to be effected by it at all."

"Oh, no, I was," Danny said. "It's just that it takes more for it to affect a ghost. I mean, can you imagine how hard it is to actually intimidate a ghost? And you're also right, Jazz, in that she can use this ability to stop people and render them helpless. And if I'm right, it's similar to an ability that I have."

"You mean your Ghostly Wail?" Sam asked.

"Exactly."

"Um, ok, I know we're not hip and cool like we used to be, but you kids are going to have to explain to your Mom and me what in the name of fudge a Ghostly Wail is," Jack said, scratching his head.

"The Ghostly Wail is an ability that Danny has that can decimate just about anything in its wake," Sam said as she stood next to Danny.

"I basically build up energy into the my lungs, and then expel it from my mouth in huge waves via my vocal cords that can destroy solid matter, can crash electronics and can render numerous enemies powerless as it packs a serious punch," Danny said, looking seriously at his parents as he tried to explains just how dangerous it really was. "Unfortunately, because of how strong it is, it uses up so much energy that I usually get completely burned out and turn back to normal. I've been trying to learn how to control it better and trying to store up reserve energy, but even with all that, I still only use it as a last resort for a tight situation."

"I see. So this Ghostly Wail of yours is a type of sonic wave made of pure ectoplasmic energy that can be used to take out whole armies," Maddie said as she looked upon her son in both fascination and wonder that a boy his age could hold so much power with his small frame. As her gaze turned to Danielle who was looking at Danny in what Maddie could only describe as admiration, the same question poised itself about this young girl, maybe even more so about her considering that according to the kids she was supposed to be no older than 12 years old. Though she was sure that Danielle wasn't as strong as Danny, it still amazed her.

"Yeah, that's about right. And as you've all seen firsthand, even unconsciously, Danielle was able to cripple everyone easily. Once she gains for control over it, she could use her power for a lot of effective things. She would be able to read the emotions of anybody that came up against us, and could shut down armies of ghost with just a single wave of her Aura," Danny said with a smile as he looked at the once again embarrassed girl who was blushing a scarlet red.

"You're giving me way too much credit for something I'm not even sure I can do, Danny," she said with a smile as she looked away from everyone.

"No kidding. That's a lot of faith to put into a girl who's about to go into puberty," Tucker said. "I mean, girls are already crazy enough with their emotions, but now a preteen has the power to control them? That's almost as bad as when you could control the weather with yours! I mean think about it, she could turn the whole town in raging nutjobs-"

"Dude, Tucker!" Danny said nervously as he and Jack looked at the very angry looks that all for women were currently giving the techno geek. "Shut up. Like, now, before the girls all kill you."

"What? I'm just saying-"

Tucker never finished his sentence as he suddenly felt his throat constrict and a cold sweat break out across his forehead along with a chilling wave as the girls gazed at him, hate very clear in their eyes, especially Sam, Danielle and Jazz. Tucker began to shake as his eyes grew wide in fright, his mind almost imagining the horrible things that they would do to him.

"Um, you know, maybe that came out wrong-"

"Tucker, do yourself a favor and stop talking before you end up in worse condition then these two," Sam said, hands on her hips. Turning back to Danny, her gaze softened. "Even though the techno-geek here seems to like putting his foot in his mouth, something he said did interest me. This is just a theory, but what if you guys got your powers _because _you were going into puberty?"

"What do you mean, Sam?" Danielle asked, looking at the older girl in curiosity as she forgot about Tucker and released him from the emotional hold she had on him.

"Well, now remember like I said, this is just a theory, but what if by chance these abilities were a way to help you cope with the reality of puberty? I mean think about it, according to both Frostbite and the Ghost Writer, there are no records of any ghost in existence having a power like yours, Danny. Not even Pariah Dark. Not to mention that there are only three halfas in existence, two of which are still growing, hence meaning their powers will grow too."

"She's right, dude," Tucker said, carefully watching for any sign of an attempt on his life. "If you think about it, you're already stronger then Plasmius, and he's been going at this since before you were even born. Not to mention that Dani's a close second. Even Valerie admitted that after the way she kicked his butt when you saved her last time."

"Exactly. And since we don't really know anything about ghost teenagers, maybe your body developed a power that you could use to help defend yourself from certain things."

"Or to make up for a self appointed flaw that we see in ourselves," Danielle said, gaining everyone's attention.

"A flaw?" Jazz asked, receiving a nod from Danielle.

"What if Sam's right, and these powers were something special that we developed to help us deal with puberty, but to be more accurate, he help us deal with a fault that we see in ourselves?"

"It is possible," Maddie said. "When kids become teenager and start going through puberty, their lives can take dramatic changes, and things that they didn't see or didn't know about themselves can really affect them in an exceptional way. For example, as a child, one may not notice or care about appearance, but once it becomes a social aspect and things like pimples begin to occur-"

"Then that person will do anything to change that, even changing their physical appearance, which they could gain as a ghost power is they were a ghost," Danny said, catching on to what they were getting at. "And it's stuff like that that gave Spectura her power when she invaded Amity and kidnapped all the kids at Casper High since she feed off of misery and despair. Oh great," Danny smacked himself in the head, though regretted it as pain shot up from his chest once more. "I was only kidding before when I made that stupid Ghost Puberty joke, and here it comes to bite me in the butt."

"But if that's true and your new powers are reflective of your flaws, what could your flaws be?" Jazz asked out loud as she began to think, not really asking either the question, though the thick air that settled around the two hybrids made it clear that they were very uncomfortable answering.

"That shouldn't be too hard to figure out for me, Jazz," Danny said, looking at the ground and allowing his hair, which had grown a few inches, to hang over his face and hid it. "My hero complex."

"The fact that Danny is so willing to save everyone and protect them was the reason he developed the attack in the first place," Sam said.

"It's also what makes it so powerful. It's because, when I was getting beaten up and when I thought I was going to be stuck there forever, all I could think about was how I had failed to save everyone, how it was all my fault. How I had failed as a hero, someone who saves people. I was afraid that I wasn't good enough and just wanted to do something, anything to get out of that situation and to get back to everyone and protect them. Then I felt it, and the power just exploded out of me in an instant."

"Danielle," Jazz said carefully as she looked at the girl. She knew this was a tough subject for the two, but if they were going to help them to get through this, they needed to know what made this girl tick. "What is your flaw? What is it that you feel that brings you down?"

Danielle was silent for a moment as she looked at the ground, her dark lock casting a veil around her face. Everyone watched as her body began to shake and soft sniffling came from her, worrying everyone, especially Jazz who thought perhaps she had crossed a line somewhere. Jazz turned to her brother who was looking directly at Danielle with a hard, emotionless expression she had never seen before. Before she could comment on it, Danielle spoke.

"The thing that I've always known was my flaw is…my feelings," she said, still shaking as tears fell. "I've always put up a front, always acting like I didn't care and that I was some super cocky kid, but deep down, deep inside, I've always been scared and confused," She paused for a moment, letting herself catch her breath. "I've always been scared because my life is so messed up; I've never felt like I fit in anywhere. I was born in a pod, force grown to be this old, was told I was a copy of someone else. Then I found out I was unstable and was going to melt into a puddle of ectoplasm, was hunted down by the man who created me and had to fight to keep myself alive at all times…everything was just so confusing and scary, especially because I didn't think anyone understood me. Even Danny could only understand me to a certain degree. And so the only logical thing I could think to do was to runaway. I always thought that if I had stayed with Danny, I would only make things harder for him or that he would just tell me that I had to learn to deal with it all on my own. Unfortunately, once this power developed, I knew I had to come back and ask Danny for help because I was really confused and scared. Of course my nervousness only increased when I thought about coming here and then when I got attacked when I came through the door. Everything was happening to me in such a short amount of time, it just made my head spin. I just wanted some way to get people to understand me, to be on the same emotional wavelength that I was so that maybe someone, anyone, would understand just how scared I was and could help comfort me in some way."

"And because of that, you gained the ability to manipulate emotions, but like with mine, it had a slight side effect that back fired," Danny said. Danielle nodded her head.

"With you, it drains your power to the point you're left helpless and can't protect anyone like you want. With me, I can not only see the emotions, but I can be consumed by them if they become too strong. I could be overcome by some other Ghost's greed or their rage, and be rendered completely helpless. I've become an open book with no way to close the pages."

"But you will be able to, one day," Sam said, walking up to the young girl and, to Danielle's surprise, pulling her into a hug. Danielle was shocked as Sam held her, the warmth of her embrace flowing into her. Focusing, Danielle looked at Sam as she pulled away, a smile on her face, and saw that Sam was glowing a bright indigo as if she were on fire. It became clear to her that the warmth she had felt was the compassion that Sam was feeling for her. Looking around, Danielle saw that everyone in the room was glowing the same indigo, and that the feelings from them all were swirling around her in a beautiful display of compassion and she could feel the lonely, hurt feelings she had felt for so long as they started to disappear. This time, when she cried, she had the biggest smile on her face, and everyone returned it.

Danny nodded his head as he looked at the girl, knowing that she would be ok now that she had people that cared about her to watch over her and help her to grow. Though that thought was soon forgotten as his stomach growled loudly. Everyone started to laugh, especially Danielle, until her stomach soon made a similar noise, leaving everyone laughing and the two of them blushing with embarrassment.

"Come on, guys," Sam said, grabbing Danielle's arm. "Let's get these two into the kitchen so they can fuel up and really kick their healing powers into high gear."

"Sounds like a plan to me," Danny grinned as Tucker helped him limp into the kitchen.

**To DMC Fanboy: I've actually already read all of those stories that you mentioned in your reviews. I just have the bad habit of almost never reviewing a story that's already complete. I try to do it a lot more often now, but I do remember reading those and going through them without reviewing. They were good, and I too read reviews on stories I read too to get a view of how other people perceive the story. Thanks for the review, and glad you're enjoying the story.**

**Also, can any tell me what the reference to the DC universe is in compared to Danielle's new power? **


	5. Chapter 4

Chpater 4: The Explaination

November 28, 2010, 8:03 CST

The five humans stared in disbelief as the two half ghosts stuffed their mouths with more and more of the holiday leftovers without so much as a pause. The men watched as Danielle seemed to be keeping up with Danny's pace despite the fact that she was literally half his size, bringing to question where she was putting it all away. The women were more concerned at the pace that the two seemed to have set for fear that one of them was going to choke.

"More!" The two cried in unison, startling everyone. Jazz placed the bowl of mashed potatoes in front of them, and quickly pulled her hand away as the two attacked the dish with vigor. Jazz looked back her hand to be sure that she still had all her fingers, which, thankfully, she did.

"My word. Did you two eat anything at all while you were in the Ghost Zone?" Maddie asked. Danny swallowed hard before downing a glass of water and addressing his mother.

"We did, but it wasn't nearly enough to sustain us," he said.

"Yeah!" Danielle agreed with her mouth full of food. "And not only that, but everything taste like ectoplasm! It was gross!"

"Danielle, swallow your food, please," Danny said, shaking his head. "Anyway, like I was saying, we did eat, but because we're only half ghost, the food only had enough effect to sustain our ghost halfs. If we were full ghosts, it would have been completely different. That being said, since there was no human food, we never turned back to our human forms."

"So you mean that you two have been burning off all of your energy for the last month without resting?" Jazz asked in a stunned manner.

"Yep. All the energy we got from the food we ate only sustained us for a little while."

"Kinda like a normal human diet," Danielle said. "We learned that Ghost apparently don't have to eat as often as humans do to sustain their energy."

"But it's also because we were constantly in our ghost forms and using energy just to stay that way. Not to mention that we were beaten up so badly," Danny said with a sigh. "Our body's had to pull triple duty with trying to sustain us from whatever energy we had, heal us from whatever injuries we had and keeping us in ghost form."

"No wonder you guys were so wiped when you shot out of that portal," Tucker said. "It also explains why you're healing so slowly. You bodies must be getting used to not having to keep your powers running 24/7."

"No kidding. To be honest, we were in ghost form for so long, I almost forgot what it was like to be fully human," Danny said, looking at his reflection in his silverware. "I honestly thought that that was it for us. Especially after what happened at-" Danny paused as a sad look crossed his face.

"Danny?" Sam asked in concern. "What happened where?" Danny remained silent as he continued to look at the table. Danielle turned to him, seeing the guilt that was written all over his face, and though she too felt it, she could tell that it was tougher for Danny. Turning to the others, Danielle answered the question that Sam had posed.

"After what happened at the Far Frozen and the Kingdom of Aragon," she said, receiving a gasp from Sam and Tucker and confused looks from the rest of the Fenton family.

"The Far Frozen!? What happened to the Far Frozen!?" Tucker asked as he got to his feet and leaned forward on the table in both anticipation and nervous anxiousness. "Danielle, what's happened to Frostbite and the Yeti Ghosts?"

"And what about Dora!?" Sam as she stepped forward. "Are she and her people ok? Did Aragon have something to do with it!?"

Danielle looked at both of them as guilt washed over her face, and the two knew that whatever they were going to tell them, it wasn't pleasant in the slightest. The wide eyed looks on the two teenager's faces spoke volumes to the Fentons, but they were still confused as to who or what they were talking about.

"Guys, calm down, and tell us who this Frostbite and Dora are," Jazz said. Before Danielle could respond, Danny spoke up, though his gaze remained turned to the table.

"Frostbite is the leader of a part of the Ghost Zone known as the Far Frozen," he said. "It's a frozen wasteland of ice and snow, but also holds an advanced society of Yeti ghosts that are known for their history and medical expertise. Sam, Tuck and I crashed landed the Specter Speeder there once when we had gotten lost, and Frostbite had helped up to repair it as well as loaned us the Infi-map to help us get back home. They were also the ones that helped me to learn to control my ice powers so I could defeat Undergrowth."

"What's an Infi-map?" Jack asked.

"It's a map of the Ghost Zone that shows you were any and all portals are, manmade and natural. It has the ability to transport the user to any location desired, including portals that lead to other times."

"Wait, there are portals that lead to other time periods!?" Maddie asked in scientific fascination.

"Mom! We can get to that later. Right now we need to know what happened," Jazz said in desperation.

"You're right, dear. Continue, Danny."

"Like I was saying, the people of the Far Frozen are known far and wide, and always seem to have a vast amount of knowledge. When we first got there, they knew who I was all because I had defeated Pariah Dark. They called me the Great One and the Savior of the Ghost Zone. Though I wasn't keen on the name, it was good to know that I had allies like them when I needed them. And I definitely needed them more than ever after the accident."

"My god…were your injuries that server?" Maddie asked as guilt and horror covered her face as she recalled the screams of agony from both Danny and Danielle before they were launched into the Ghost Zone.

"No. It wasn't because of that, though that definitely had a bigger effect on us then we had hoped. After the explosion, we were shot straight into the Ghost Zone before the portal completely vanished. We were going so fast, we had hardly any way to try to slow ourselves down. Though it wouldn't have mattered with how much pain we were in or the number of injuries we had. To be honest, I couldn't feel anything below my neck until I crashed landed.

"At first, I didn't move. My body just hurt so bad," Danny said, shaking his head. "Everywhere over my body it just felt like someone was stabbing me with a bunch of needles. Even breathing hurt so bad that I just couldn't find the will to move. Then I heard it."

"Heard what?" Jazzed asked.

"Crying," Danny said, folding his arms and resting them on the table slowly so as not to agitate his ribs which he had been informed had been broken though that didn't surprise him. "I heard soft crying and someone calling out for me." Danielle, who had turned her head down, looked away from him as her face flushed with embarrassment and eyes teared up.

"You big, dumb jerk," she mumbled while the others looked at her with a bit of sympathy, forgetting that she could feel their emotions. "Enough already. I don't need the sympathy, ok? Yes, it was me. I had crash landed not too far from Danny. I guess after we got shocked, it brought me back into consciousness because I had no idea where I was or why I hurt so badly. I had never been in the Ghost Zone before and if you throw in the fact that I couldn't move without feeling pain, it was pretty obvious. I was scared." Danielle rubbed her eyes, ridding them of the tears that had begun to build. "I mean, as much as I hate to admit it, I'm just a little girl. I not even a whole year old, and I find myself in pain and in some weird place with a green sky and the eerie feeling in the air. I was sure that I had finally died all the way."

_Danielle stared into the sky in fright as the echoes of the dead rang out around her, even from her spot in the small crater that she was in. She had no idea where she was or why she was in so much pain, but if she had to guess, she figured she was probably in Hell. She had heard stories about a place where people who were evil went when they died, a place where the dead cried out all day and night. A place where you feel immense pain that never seemed to stop. A place where no one was ever going to come to save you and you live out your worst nightmare for all eternity._

_For once in her short life, Danielle didn't try to stop the tears that came to her eyes as the reality of her situation weighed on her. To her, it all made sense. She was paying for all the bad things she had done. She had been killed in Danny's parent's lab, and paying for what she had done, whatever it was. The worst part was that she never got to truly live life. She wasn't even a year old and here she was, doomed to an eternity of pain and despair. Danielle didn't hide the emotional pain as she opened her mouth and cried like the little girl she really was at heart._

"_Why!? Why me!?" she cried as the tears rolled down her face and into the ground. "Danny! Danny help me!" She didn't know why she was calling out to him. She had heard many times that no one could save you once you were banished to the depths of Hell. But deep down, Danielle held hope that Danny would come and save her like he always did because that's just what Danny did. He saved people, and he saved her when she needed him the most. Why would this be any different?_

_But as she continued to wail, she never saw him, the heroic look in his eye, or the smile on his face whenever she met up with him that always made her feel so safe. Nothing. He wasn't coming this time, and that was a fact that Danielle was going to have to face. He was never going to save her again. She was never going to feel his strong embrace again as he hugged her. He was never to going to reassure her that it was all going to be alright ever again because it wasn't going to be. _

_Danielle closed her eyes and just cried and cried. It was the only thing she could do. It still hurt, but this pain wasn't physical, it was emotional, and that just seemed to hurt so much more. _

"_Shhh. It's going to be alright, Dani," A voice said. Danielle felt someone, or something, touch her face, wiping the tears from her closed eyes, but she refused to open her eyes. She didn't think she could handle it if somehow her hero was really here, like always, only to see him vanish in some type of torturous illusion to break her mind of what little sanity she had left. "I am so sorry about all of this. I swear, I'm gonna protect you and I'm going to get us back to Earth and out of the Ghost Zone. And when I do, you're going to stay with me so you'll never be alone again."_

_Danielle's eyes shot up, and, as if by some miracle, there, hovering over her, was Danny. He had her head in his lap with a protective hand around her as she gazed up at him in disbelief as he smiled at her, though the smile was tired. Danielle could see that he was covered in various burns and looked as if he as struggling just to sit up right like he was, but none of that matter as she looked up at him, more tears in her eye, but this time, of joy. Danielle groaned as she slowly raised her hand, pain firing from every nerve, and placed it softly on Danny's face. The boy winced slightly, but continued to smile at her. _

"_Danny…you're really here…" she whispered. "You came to save me…just like always…"_

"_I'll always be there to save you, Danielle. I promise."_

Everyone in the room was crying as they listened to Danielle's recollection of how she had woken up.

"The big idiot crawled out of the hole he landed in and made his way over to me while I was crying," Danielle said with a smile as she turned back to Danny who was smiling, and punched him lightly in the arm. "He probably hurt himself even more doing that, the big dope."

"Yeah, probably," he said, rubbing the back of his head with a laugh that everyone joined him in. "But I had to get to her. I couldn't stand to listen to her crying. She was so scared and hurt."

"You couldn't stand at all," Danielle said with a grin. Danny rolled his eyes and continued where he left off.

"Anyway, after I had finally convinced Dani that we weren't in Hell and that she hadn't doomed me and gotten me sent there with her, I carried her into a nearby cave to rest while I tried to figure out where we had landed. I don't know how long we were in there, but I figured it out pretty quickly. We had landed on Skulker's Island."

Sam, Tucker and Jazz gasped. If there was one thing that they knew about Skulker, it was that he enjoyed the hunt, whether his prey could fight back or not. Danny wasn't surprised by their reactions as they knew exactly what kind of danger they had been in.

"Of course the second that I figured this out, the tin can had to show up. And he wasn't alone. Ember was with him because apparently they're dating."

"Yikes," the trio said.

"Yeah, no kidding. I didn't want Dani fighting, especially since she wasn't in any condition to-"

"And trust me, he wasn't any better either," the young girl said.

"But we didn't have much of a choice. So we tried to fight them, only to find out that we couldn't use our powers to their full extent. We found out later that the shock had shorted them out a little because it was so close to what had actually happened when I got my powers. If we had been in there any longer, we either would have died or completely lost our powers," Danny said, keeping his gaze away from his parents, though he knew that they were probably feeling beyond guilty for what happened. "So we did the only thing we could, and we ran way as fast as we could, but the two of them just wouldn't let up."

"Danny took on Skulker and I took Ember," Danielle said. "Too bad it wasn't much of a battle. I was barely able to dodge her attacks, and when she hit me, my body shut down from the pain, especially when she hit me with her guitar."

"And I'll tell you, getting punched by Skulker hurts, but try having a metal fist hit you when you can feel nothing but pain. It sucks, big time."

"So how did you two get away?" Jazzed asked.

"As luck would have it, that giant lizard ghost that Dad and I caught when we went fishing happened to show up and distracted Skulker and Ember long enough for Dani and me to beat it out of there and head toward the Far Frozen. On the way there, Danielle started to tell me about her power, and how she was super pissed off because neither Ember nor Skulker knew who she was and that it was rude not to say someone's name. It took me a while, but I finally figured out that she had been influenced by Ember, leaving her with what I liked to call, Ember Syndrome," Danny grinned while Danielle glared at him. "So we finally arrive at the Far Frozen, and got a bit or relief once we touched the snow because it was easing the burns a bit."

"After that, we made our way to the medical center where Danny introduced me to Frostbite and the rest o his people. Apparently the Great One here is pretty infamous in the Ghost Zone," she said with a smirk at his dislike for the nickname.

"They took us in and gave us food, explaining what had happened with our powers after a quick scan, and they had advised that we not turn human until we were healed up and back to full strength. From there, they gave us a room and medical treatment. It was all going so smoothly…"

"And then, it happened…" Danielle said as both looked back at the table as their memories consumed their thoughts.

"What do you mean it?" Tucker asked.

"The invasion," Danny said, looking at his best friend, shocking everyone in the room.

"We were resting up in our room. We had only been there for a couple of hours, and had finally gotten to sleep when we heard an explosion," Danielle said. "Naturally, we both got to our feet, battle ready, when the entire room started to shake. We darted out into the hallway to see everyone was in a state of hurry and chaos which we knew couldn't be good."

"We ran to find Frostbite in the control center," Danny continued. "He was barking out orders to prepare for battle, and as soon as we heard that, we went to prepare too, but he wouldn't let us. He told us that a large surplus of ghost had arrived and that they were looking for us. Apparently Skulker and Ember had gotten the word out that we were not only in the Zone, but that the only dependable portal was closed."

"But why would that provoke them to attack you or the Far Frozen?" Sam asked.

"Because they thought that we took away their number one access portal to the real world. And not only that, but we closed the portal and stayed in the Ghost Zone. By that logic, we had to be up to something."

"With Danny's battle record, and the rumor of him defeating Pariah Dark single handedly, it's pretty easy to see what they were thinking," Danielle said.

"They thought it was an invasion!? They thought that you were trying to take control of the Ghost Zone!?" Jazz screeched, receiving a nod from her brother.

"At least that what some of the weaker ghosts probably thought. But all of my enemies thought different. They thought I was trying to be one of them or something stupid like that. They knew I'd never close the portal without a legitimate reason to do so, and they wanted to know why. Of course in my weakened state, there was no way I could take them all on, even with Dani's help, which meant we were sitting ducks. And Skulker knew that, which is why he called up everyone to come after me at the same time."

"They only attacked the Far Frozen because they refused to turn us over," Danielle said with a shake of her head. "To be honest, I wish that they had."

"Are you nuts, why would you wish that!?" Tucker asked in angered disbelief.

Danielle rounded on him, her anger flaring up, striking out at him unexpectedly. "You don't know what it was like! You don't know what we saw! What we heard! What I felt! Do you have any idea what it feels like to feel the rage, the desperation, the pain of loss, from hundreds of beings at once!? It fucking hurts, Tucker!" Danielle screamed as she slammed her fist on the table, a crater the size of her fist on the impact spot as her body began to glow red.

"Danielle!" Danny yelled, grabbing her by the arm, and dragging her toward him, his eyes shining green as were hers. "What did I tell you? Remember, you have to stay calm and control the power or else it'll control you!"

"Let me go, Danny!" she shouted.

"Then calm down, now," he said in a low, dangerous tone as he narrowed his eyes.

"But Danny-"

"But nothing! I know it's frustrating, but you have to calm the hell down now!" he shouted back at her. Danielle growled and glared at him, a feral snarl crawling from her mouth and Danny breathed in and out heavily and forced his gaze into hers. Everyone stared on in stunned silence at the exchange between the two glowing hybrids as their eyes flared with green energy in a ghostly standoff of power. The tension was so thick in the air that it was beginning to become hard to breath. Finally, Danielle's aura returned to normal as she stopped growling and her glare softened into a look of slight remorse.

"Sorry," she whispered, turning away from Danny who gazed at her a bit longer before letting her arm go and turning back to his stunned family. Everyone was too shocked to actually ask about what they had just witnessed, but eventually Jazz spoke up.

"Danny…are you guys ok?" she asked. Her brother ran a hand through his hair with a frustrated sigh.

"Yeah, we're fine, Jazz. Turns out that ghost in the same family or group have rankings in them that are similar to wolf packs. Whoever is strongest is the Alpha ghost and there for is the leader of the group. Generally with ghosts, since they get stronger with age, the ranks usually just fall into order via age. Well with Danielle and I being in the same family, I'm technically the Alpha, and she," he said, giving her an apologetic look, "is a Beta ghost."

"Oookay," Sam said slowly, still a bit confused. "But what does that have to do with what just happened?"

"Since she's a lower rank then I am, she has to follow my commands. However, when she gets too over taken by emotion, especially anger, she tends to have difficultly following what I'm telling her, and so I...have to force my will on her and control her to calm her down and bring her back to normal. It's really uncomfortable for both her and me, and so I don't do it unless absolutely necessary. It's the same way that Walker controls the guards in the prison, how Aragon controlled his kingdom until we helped Dora to overthrow him, and the same way that Frostbite controls the people of the Far Frozen, but he doesn't do it often because they respect him. He only does it when absolutely crucial. With me…it's like dealing with a temperamental puppy." Danny her a small smile to try and lighten the mood.

"It sucks," Danielle said. "I mean, it's bad enough that I can't control my power, but then to have Danny force me to follow his orders and do what he says just piles on the fact that I can't control it. I can see why so many ghosts decide to be loners. Every time he has to do it, I feel like I have no free will, like I'm mindless. Like before."

It didn't need to be said out loud what she meant. All the teens knew of Danielle's previous life before Danny had shown her just how evil Vlad really was, and it was because of these thought that Danny didn't like using the power on her, though he had to admit that it as useful, regardless of their discomfort.

"I understand, but I won't lie; whenever I do use it and you challenge me like you did, I can feel your mind fighting back, trying to be dominant. But I also know that if I let that happen, you'll be consumed by your emotions, and I won't let that happen."

"I know. And thanks for looking out for me, Danny," she said with a sad smile before turning to Tucker. "Sorry about that. It's just…when I think about how much emotion was going on and what we saw…I just lose it."

"It's cool. It must have been pretty intense for you to freak out like that," he said nodding his head though in his gut he could feel the uneasiness tightening.

"You have no idea, Tuck," Danny said shaking his head. "Soon, the explosions where getting closer and closer until we felt the building shake and the roof began to fall in. Frostbite grabbed us and commanded everyone to stall until he returned. He carried us to a room where he activated some type of secret opening in the floor, and dropped Dani and I in, telling us good luck, and may good fortune shine on us and that he had faith in us. I reached out toward him just as a weapon was jammed into his back, causing him to roar in pain and his blood to splatter. But even as he as being attacked, his first priority was us. The door closed and everything around us was dark until a glowing light shined in front of us. It was then that I realized that he were in a shuttle. I helped Dani into a seat just as the shuttle ejected down a long tunnel, shooting us out into the rest of the Zone. We looked back and watched helplessly as the Far Frozen was attacked."

"We tried to figure out how to get the shuttle to go back, but couldn't, and we still couldn't use all of our powers," Danielle said as she gripped her pajama pants. "We couldn't do anything but drift and let the shuttle take us where ever Frostbite had programmed it to take us while he and his people were attacked because of us."

Tucker and Sam looked on, speechless as the information sunk in. It was hard to imagine a being as powerful, resourceful and kind as Frostbite being attacked and sacrificing himself like he had for Danny and Danielle. The thought that he could no longer exist made Tucker sick to his stomach as he stared at the two in disbelief, unsure of what to say.

"Danny…" Sam voice came, hoarse as she tried to hold herself together. "You mentioned Dora earlier. What happened to Dora and her kingdom?"

Danny looked at Sam with shame and guilt on his face as her lip quivered. Danny could only shake his head as the words tumbled out of his mouth.

"It…I…I don't know…" he said with a pained look. "The shuttle, it was headed there, and just when we were on the perimeter…"

"The entire place was complete rubble…" Danielle mumbled as she curled up on her seat, being careful of her bandages, though they were honestly the least of her worries. "All the homes were burning down, the castle was in ruins…and this huge black dragon was commanding a bunch of ghosts."

"No! You mean-" Sam cried, tears falling from her eyes.

"Aragon. He somehow got free and got his amulet back," Danny said, shaking with fury as he clenched his fists. "We have no clue what happened to Dora or any of the others. I can only imagine what he would do to her, regardless of the fact that she's his sister. He would give her the worst punishment possible."

"Death," Tucker said while Jazz and her parents all gasped. "He would kill his own sister to ensure this never happened again."

"No! NO! He couldn't have gotten her!" Sam cried in protest. "Dora is tough! She wouldn't let him get her like that! She's got to be alive! She's got to be!"

"Sam!" Danny cried, hating to see her like this, especially since it was his fault it all happened. "We don't know what happened to her, but we have to be realistic…Dora might be gone. For good. I'm sorry."

"But, how is that possible?" Jazz asked, her body visibly shaking. Maddie slowly guided her daughter into an empty chair before doing the same with Sam. "How can a ghost be gone for good?"

"It is possible for a ghost to die again if their core is destroyed," Danny said. "Without their core, they have no form, no way to stay connected to the world…no soul. If that gets destroyed, the ghost will fade into oblivion, never to return."

Jazz was speechless at the new information that was both interesting and terrifying at the same time. The fact that a ghost could die was beyond scary. For someone who held onto logic like she did, the thought that once you were a ghost you were beyond the reach of death was a skeptical practice she didn't believe in. Even once she had discovered that ghosts were real did she find it hard to believe. Yet, it gave her some comfort knowing that, god forbid, something ever happened to Danny, that he would come back a ghost and would never actually be gone. But now, hearing that there was something even after death that ghosts could experience, Jazz had never felt more scared for her brother's life then she did now.

"After what we had seen, we risked it and escaped the shuttle just as it made way toward the kingdom and crashed. Aragon had almost spotted us, but we had escaped. From there, we wondered around the Ghost Zone, apparently for a month, fighting, hunting…surviving. We tried to get to Clockwork's Tower, but we got too lost to find it and I didn't have any form of the maps we had created to help up. We found a few random natural portals that we checked, but none ever led back here to Amity Park."

"The fights started to come more frequently," Danielle said as she stared off into space. "The ghosts started to get more ruthless. Like how they broke my wrist and twisted Danny's ankle. It was so bad…I was sure we were never going to make it back to Earth…I thought we were going to die. But Danny never lost hope."

"No. I did," he admitted. "I'm pathetic. Here I was, supposed to be the hero, and I let my friends down, couldn't protect Danielle like I was supposed to, and couldn't think of a way to get home," Danny shook his head furiously as he slammed his fists on the table. "The last straw was when we were captured by some giant squid ghost. We were too tired from lack of sleep and still hurt and hungry…I didn't know what to do. Dani was lying on the ground and she wasn't moving…I could see the blood pooling from her head…"

Danielle moved her hand to the bandages around her head. She remembered the feeling as everything started to go dark around her as Danny stood his ground, bloodied, bruised and on his last leg, literally. She remembered the various scars on his back from his missing jacket that was wrapped around her, the blood that stained his white hair and the shaking of his form as the creature approached them. But the one thing she remembered the best were his words as she closed her eyes.

"I won't let you touch her," she repeated out loud. "I promised that I'd get us home, damn it.' And then you did it. You used your wail, knowing that it could have failed and that you could have lost all your remaining power and died."

"I know," Danny said, still shaking as he looked to the floor. "I was…so desperate…I didn't know what else to do…all I wanted was to get us home…"

Everyone was silent as they let the hero fall apart and cry. It was rare to see Danny let his guard down for the soul fact that when you were a hero, you never got the chance too. If you showed weakness, your enemies would destroy you. Your doubts in yourself would consume you. The people you protect would lose faith in you. But he was only a teenage boy who had been handed the responsibility of protecting so many people, many of whom didn't even like him and who didn't deserve him in his family and friend's eyes. And yet, every day and night, he would drop whatever it was that he was doing to protect them all. But Danny was still human, and he was entitled to have him moments of letting his guard down without being judged. And if that meant crying like a baby in front of the people who were closest to him, then he would take it.

As Danny pulled himself together, he looked up at his family. "After I used my wail, the squid shrieked and disappeared into the Zone. I was surprised that I had any energy left, but it left me so weak, that I knew that I wasn't going to be able to stay ghost much longer. I remember crying as I picked Danielle up after bandaging her head. She just kept saying "I want to go home. Danny, I want to go home." And all I could say was "Me too, Dani." I just stared at my hand, and willed as much energy as I could to come, and just kept imagining that we were home.

"I didn't know what I was doing other than just a desperate attempt to get home. Maybe I was hoping to master teleportation right then. But instead, a portal opened up. I was skeptical at first because I had barely any energy left, and knew we could get stuck. But something was drawing me toward it, telling me to go through, like an instinct, and so I did, and ended up getting shot out of the portal into the basement."

"So you mastered portal creation?" Sam asked.

"No. I don't think I mastered it, but I know that I can do it now which means I'll have to learn to. But for now, I don't want to go anywhere near the Ghost Zone until things have calmed down. After that, I'm going looking for Frostbite and Dora," he said, determination in his eyes. Nobody argued with him. They knew that he was right and that time away from the Zone was probably best for both him and Danielle, who groaned as her wrist ached.

"Ouch. I think we're gonna need to speed up the healing here," she said, looking at Danny. "My body aches a lot."

"Mine too. We should be able to heal quicker in ghost form," he said with a nod. Both called up their power and activated the rings that transformed them, but were stunned to find that their clothes were not their usual uniforms, but the remnants of them. Danny's jacket, boots and gloves were missing as he stood in shredded pants. Danielle's uniform wasn't any better. Her top was shredded with the right shoulder hanging limply, leaving the left side to hold it together. Both her sleeves were missing as was her right glove and left boot. Her pants had been torn at the knees, leaving her a pair of shorts that were filled with holes.

"What happened to our uniforms?" Danielle cried in distress as she looked at Danny. "They should have repaired themselves after we changed back."

"I think its cause we spent so much time in ghost form that our bodies didn't have time to repair them," Danny said.

"Maybe it's a side effect of the electrocution?" Sam said, walking up to them.

"But all of our other powers work," Danielle said as she put a hand on her hip. "Plus, the suits are a part of our DNA. It changes every time we transform, no matter what we're wearing."

"Yeah, but since you guys spent so much time and energy trying to sustain yourselves, your bodies may not remember what your costumes look like."

"You mean like muscle memory?" Jazz asked. At the confused looks she received, she rolled her eye. "You know, muscle memory? The more you do something, the more routine it becomes? Like the more Danny and Danielle transform, the easier it is for their cells to remember what their costumes are like."

"Oh, I get it," Tucker said. "It's like when hitting reset on a video game; every time you do, it goes back to the way it was before."

"Brilliant, Tucker," Danny said with sarcasm before turning back to his sister. "I guess that would make sense since we haven't transformed back to human for in almost two month. I guess that means we're gonna need new costumes."

"Ooh, ooh! I want something with spandex!" Danielle cheered in excitement at the thought of having a new suit. Danny looked at her in confusion, silently asking why and Danielle sighed before rolling her eyes. "Hello! It's light, flexible and it's cheap. Plus all the really big superheroes and sidekicks wear it!"

"So, what, you're my sidekick now?" Danny said with a smirk as she glared at him.

"No. Anyway, like I was saying, don't you think it would be a good idea for our new costumes?"

"No thanks. Tight suites might work for you, but I've had my fill. I need something loose and breathable. Maybe a bodysuit shirt at best, but definitely loose pants. And new gloves and boots with some padding would be nice."

"I think I can arrange all that," Sam said with a smile as she looked over the two halfas. "Give me a couple days, I'll have you're new costumes designed, ordered and in your hands in no time."

"Sounds good. And while Sam works on that, we'll get to designing Danielle's room," Maddie said.

"Wait, I get my own room!? I don't have to share with a slob like Danny or a neat freak like Jazz!?" Danielle asked in excitement.

"Hey!" The two teens cried in unison at the jab.

"Oh, whatever. I'm a clone of you, Danny. I know how you are, and I also know how your sister is always nagging you to clean up."

"Yeah, well get used to it because it's our sister now," Danny said with a smile as he ruffled her hair. "Well come to the family, squirt."

"Hey! Don't call me squirt, you moron!" Danielle cried.

"I have always wanted a little sister," Jazz said in amusement while Maddie shook her head at the two as they continued to jab back and forth at each other. Jack smiled as he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"As if this family wasn't crazy enough with one super powered child, now we have two. They haven't even been siblings for a whole 2 minutes and they're already fighting."

"It's just the Fenton way, honey," Jack said.

"Yeah. I guess it is," she said with a smile.


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: The Recovery

December 4, 2010, 7:35 CST

Danny could feel the floor creaking under his weight as he lowered himself to it. With a slight grunt, he began to lift himself back up, allowing his muscles to burn as they stretched. A light cloaking of sweat cover him from the dip in his lower back to his forehead, a single drop running down the side of his eyebrow to the tip of his chin where it dripped to the floor, adding to the small puddle that had begun to build over the last half hour. Danny could feel the weight of his bandages as they became soaked in his perspiration, making him heavier and making his pushups harder to do.

"55," Danny said, his gaze to the floor beneath him. He paused for a moment to let his biceps and shoulder muscles adjusts to the pain that he still had yet to heal from, and took a couple of deep breaths before allowing himself to speak. "I'm surprised to see you up so early."

Light footsteps approached before coming to a stop just pass the doorway to his bedroom. Red fuzzy slippers could be seen from his peripheral vision as the owner of said slippers watched as he prepared to do his next push up.

"You're a freak, you know that, right?" she said before covering her mouth as a yawn made its way out. "I've told you to stop doing that every time I'm around."

"Noted. Though you seem to forget that since you were made from my DNA, that would make you a freak too. Not to mention super sensitive hearing," he said, dropping to the ground once more. Danielle rolled her eyes as she watched him strain to do yet another exercise while his body continued to protest the strain. She carefully crossed her arms, being wary of the brace her left one had been put into, and gave Danny a quick look over, wincing every now and then as she took in his still visible injuries, though she knew many of them were no longer as server as they had been.

"You're such an idiot. Why can't you just take it easy and relax? I mean, you've got four broken ribs that still haven't finished healing, Danny."

"Because I need to be ready for anything that comes our way, and sitting around isn't going to get anything done, Danielle," he said as he completed his 56th push up, and, with a sigh, looked to the young girl. "Did you need something?"

"Not in particular, no. I figured since I was up I'd watch you put yourself into more pain by trying to "workout", which is pretty damn ironic since you can't even use your left leg completely yet because you have a grade 3 sprain," Danielle said with annoyance as the sarcasm seemed to drip off of her every word.

Danny said nothing as he lowered himself to the ground once more. Danielle wasn't the first person to tell him that he was pushing himself too hard, and she definitely would not be the last. In fact, literally everyone he knew who came to see him had told him the same thing, and everyone continuously berated him for being stubborn and not listening.

The week had been a very busy one for everyone except Danny who had been ordered to stay home and to rest up. This, of course, didn't sit well with Danny. Being cooped up in his house was something he was not used to doing, though it did have its advantages.

With him having missed so much of school, Danny had no homework to do or to catch up on. Sure, he would probably have to do a lot of tutoring with his sister when the next semester started after winter break, but it was one less thing he was going to have to worry about right now.

Another thing he was glad about was that he had time to help Danielle to adjust to having a permanent home and family, especially since she was so rough around the edges. Danny could often hear the sounds of Danielle getting into an argument with someone in the house; most often with Jazz, as the two were always butting heads over something. Danny attributed it to Jazz's natural over protectiveness and Danielle's natural need to feel independent. Their arguing seemed harmless at first, but by midweek, he was really starting to believe that he had been cursed since he had to put up with the two by himself the entire week while his parents seemed to have been busy with various things.

Danny was beginning to believe that they were doing it on purpose to annoy him just as he thought his parents were leaving on purpose to avoid the two girls as they always seemed to have somewhere to be and would often leave the three siblings home alone. Whenever he asked where they were going, they would often say that they were running errands.

Danny would spend a good amount of his time, when not playing referee to his sisters, training and working out. This, however, proved to be difficult as he could only do things that didn't involve him to use his legs so that he wouldn't hurt his ankle anymore than it already was, and nothing that was too strenuous on his chest because of his broken ribs and still open wounds. Though Danny could see where the others were coming from, he paid it little attention as he tried to do so. Needless to say, Sam was extremely pissed to say the least when she got a call early one morning because Danny had popped his stitches. After the chewing out he had gotten from her over the phone, he had settled on doing light exercises to help keep his strength up.

One thing that bugged Danny, however, was that the media had taken to ripping him apart while he was gone. Of course it was no big secret or surprise that Vlad was behind it all. Of course the crazed up Fruitloop would take any chance he could to make Danny look bad and to get under his skin. Danny was, however, surprised that Vlad hadn't tried to pull anything while he had been gone. Surely Vlad had heard about he and Danielle being in the Ghost Zone for as long as they had been, and that's not including the Vlad Bugs that he had used all over town. Either way, Danny was just glad to see that the worst that Vlad had been able to do was to make him look like the cause of all the ghost attacks, which, more or less, may be partially true.

"Look, I get it. I should be resting and letting my healing powers do their thing, but I'm sure words going to get out soon that we're not in the Ghost Zone anymore, if Vlad doesn't already know, and I wanna be ready for anything he may try to throw at us," Danny said.

"I get that, I really do, but how can you be ready to fight him if you're not letting yourself heal?"

"Look, I'll be fine, alright?" Danny said, fed up with the same speech he had heard all week long. "I've got work to do, so, beat it, squirt."He dismissed her, going back to his pushups.

Danielle could feel her own annoyance growing at his constant disregard for her warnings as well as the nickname he had given to her. Though the two were close and cared for each other, being stuck with each other constantly for two months had taken its toll on their patience for each other. She quickly turned on her heels, flipping him the bird as she did so.

"Screw you then, jerk. I'm going to get ready to go with Mom and Jazz to the mall, and I'm gonna tell Sam that you're too busy being an asshole to hang with her." Danielle heard the sound and yelp from her brother as he fell and landed hard on the ground. Danny groaned as the pain from his ribs flared, but sat up, looking at his little sister who held a smirk on her face with a raised eyebrow, glad that her words had her desired effect.

"Don't say it," he warned before she could say anything. "And what do you mean hang out with Sam?"

"Sam called like for you like five minutes ago, which is why I was up so early. I think Mom or Dad forgot to put the phone back downstairs after they moved my furniture back into my room because it was ringing really loud, and when I woke up it was under my bed. I almost threw it out the window, and-"

"Dani, getting really off topic here," Danny said, wrapping his right arm around his torso.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, she was calling to see if you were awake because she wanted to come see you since she hasn't had the chance to since she left after we woke up. Well, after hearing the constant grunting and the squeaking you were making in here, I told her you were busy and to just drop by later. But since you insist on acting like you don't want to be around anyone, I'll just call her back and-"

"Ok, ok! I get it! Just, don't call her and tell her that, alright?" Danny said as he pushed himself up onto his bed. "I haven't seen her in almost a week, and it'd be nice to see her since I've spent the last week here with you and Jazz driving me into the nuthouse with all the arguing."

"Sorry, but that's not how it works, big bro. If you don't want me to call her back, then you'd better apologize really nicely," Danielle said with an evil smirk on her face.

Danny narrowed his eyes at the dark hair girl as she stood with her hands on her hips. "Fine. I'm sorry."

"Um, I don't think so, Daniel James Fenton. Who are you apologizing to, why and what exactly are you sorry for?"

"I'm sorry, Danielle Lilith Fenton, for being a jerk-"

"Ah, ah, ah," she said, waging her finger at him. "You know what you have to say."

Danny could feel his blood heating up as his face turned red in an annoyed blush at the way the girl was manipulating him so easily. He vowed, though, that one day, she would pay for this. _ This little brat! Should the day ever come that I _let_ her have a boyfriend, so help me, she will pay for this._ He thought.

"Fine. I'm sorry, Danielle Lilith Fenton, for being an asshole and calling you squirt. Satisfied?"

"Sure thing, lover boy. She'll be over at 8," Danielle said as she turned around and headed for the door.

"Wait, 8!? That's in less than twenty minutes!"

"Yeah, I know. You would've had more time if you had listened to me and stop working out. Have fun making out with your best friend who you have a crush on but won't admit that you guys like it each other," she called from down the hall. Danny heard the sound of her bedroom door close, but ignored it as he jumped up before quickly falling back on his bed in pain as his leg protested the weight he put on it.

"Ow, damn it! I swear I'm going to get her for this!" Danny said, transforming into his ghost form and allowing himself to float over the floor. He quickly made his way over to his dresser, grabbing a pair of boxers, some shorts and a t-shirt before speeding down the hall and slipping into the bathroom just as Jazz was about to, an action that not only surprised the older girl awake, but angered her as she pounded on the bathroom door, yelling at him.

After a shower and repeated threats from a certain red head, Danny floated in his room trying to quickly get dressed, when he heard the doorbell ring throughout the house. Danny wasted no time trying to get to the door, but was beat there by Danielle who was still in her same red tank top and blue pajama bottoms. She had a wide smile on her face as she and Sam talked while the older girl handed her a bag to which she accepted happily. Danny descended the stairs which finally caught both girls attention as he lightly landed on the sofa. Sam smiled to him and waved Danielle off. The preteen gladly left the room, taking her present with her as she went up the stair.

"Hey there, hero," Sam said as she walked over and sat next to Danny.

"Hey. What was that all about?"

"Oh, nothing much. I just got her a little something special that I know she'll like," she said, before, picking up the second bag she had and handing it to Danny. "I got you something too."

"Sam, you know you-"

"Save it, Danny. Just open it." She said, smile still on her face. Danny nodded his head and opened the bag which held a white box in it. Danny gave Sam a confused look, but continued to open the box.

Danny's eyes grew wide as he looked upon the contents of the box, but before he could even process anything to say or think, both teens jumped at the loud, excited shriek that bounced off the walls of the upper floor.

"I love it!" Danielle screamed. "Thank you, Sam!"

Sam chuckled before calling back, "You're welcome, kid." Turning to her friend, she looked at the expression on his face, waiting for his reaction. "Well? What do _you_ think, Danny?"

"I…I don't know what to say, Sam…" Danny said as he lifted the material from the box it was in. "This is amazing. Absolutely amazing, Sam. Thank you."

Sam beamed with pride as Danny pulled his new suit out of the box and held it up so he could see it better. She had spent all week working on their costumes, especially Danny's. She had taken into account everything that they had asked for as well as putting in some personal touches, and then, using her family's vast wealth, had them ordered and made in less than two days. All of her free time, she had spent trying to think up the perfect design for the two hybrids. Or that's what she liked to tell herself.

In actuality, she had been avoiding coming back to Fenton Works. Ever since the kissing fiasco, she couldn't face Danny. Her actions had been impulsive, irrational and oh so wonderfully addictive. As she sat around her bedroom, thinking about the boy that was her best friend, her mind would constantly wander back to the kiss that they shared. The gothic teen could still fell the warmth of her blood as it pumped faster and faster every time she thought about it, which would then distract her from finishing her ideas on her friend's costume as she would need to find a way to calm herself down and gain focus again. But now that she was finally done with the suit and here with Danny, she knew she was going to have to face him and the repercussions of her actions. That didn't mean she couldn't delay it though.

"Why don't you try it on?" Sam said, taking the box from him. Danny nodded his head, and transformed into his ghost form before lightly floating and heading into the kitchen. As he exited the room, Sam took a few deep breaths to try and steady herself. "Why am I so nervous? It's just Danny. Plain old, ordinary Danny who is my best friend and the greatest, cutest guy I know…" she mumbled before groaning and placing her head in her hands. She had to get it together fast or else she might lose it. As she looked up, Danny came back into the room in his new costume, and Sam was stunned. "My god…it looks even better then I imagined."

Danny floated in front of her, examining the new padded white gloves that were thick for protection, but beyond comfortable. The matching pair of white boots that adorned his feet were virtually weightless and yet Danny could feel that they would not be torn or ruined easily. The belt that she had given him had multiply pockets to house any assortment of object as well as hooks for his thermoses. Said belt was looped through the top of black cargo pants that were comfortable to the touch and hung over the tops of the boots just enough for the boots to be seen. The final touch was the one that truly caught Danny's eye. Sam had honored his wish for a sleeveless jacket and expanded upon it. The hoodie he wore was made of some type of material that not only allowed his body to breath, but moved with him with ease even though it was skin tight. On the back rested a hood with white silk on the inside of it. On the front, dead center of his chest rested a white phantom logo that shone bright like the symbol that it was.

"I'll say. I never imagined that you'd come up with something this extravagant, Sam," Danny said, looking back to her with a smile that caused the girl to blush. "This is unbelievable. Thanks, Sam. I don't know how to repay you for this."

"It's no problem, Danny," she said, trying to recover from nervous fit. Taking a deep breath, she looked him in the eye, and set her focus. She had to do this, and she had to do it now. "But I do need to talk to you about something." Danny, seeing the seriousness in her features, took a seat next to her.

"Ok. So, what did you want to talk about, Sam?" he asked.

"Well…it's about that kiss, last week," she said, looking him straight in the eye. Recognition came to Danny's face and he too started blushing at the memory that had plagued his dream and thoughts often during the week.

"Ok…what about it?"

"First, let me just say that I am so, so sorry for ambushing you like that. I don't know what came over me, and it was stupid of me to do without worrying about how it would affect our friendship, and-"

"Easy, Sam. It's ok," he said, holding her hands in his left one and using his right to wipe a few tears that were in her eyes. "I know that it was a spur of the moment kind of thing, but even a spur of the moment thing is different. What we did wasn't like our fake-out make-outs. But I gotta know, why? What was behind that kiss?"

"Well…" she said, trying to compose herself from looking like a gigantic baby. "I think that…it's gotta be pretty obvious now that I like you. A lot. And to be honest, I have for a long time, but…I never had the courage to say anything because you never seemed like you were interested in me other then when you saw me with another guy."

"Well, I never thought you were interested in me. I mean, why would you be? I was just a geek on the bottom of the food chain who was always trying to climb a latter that I had no business being on in the first place."

"Don't talk like that, Danny," Sam said, looking him straight in the eye. "You might be a geek to everyone else, but to me, you're the sweetest, kindest, most resourceful person I've ever known. And you were all those things before you even got your powers, so don't try and use that as an excuse."

"Even so, I still never noticed why you were always getting so mad whenever I dated other girls. I guess I finally understand why everyone called me clueless for so long," Danny said with a chuckle. Sam couldn't help laughing along with him. As their laughter finally died down, a quiet silence feel over the two as they looked each other in the eye. Danny leaned forward, placing his forehead against Sam's, their noses touching lightly and their lips just a ghost of a touch away. "So…where do we go from here?"

"Well," Sam said, her cheeks turning a light pink color. "I'd like to give dating you a try. That is, if you're willing to date an ultra-recyclo-vegetarian Goth who's headstrong and gets really jealous easily."

Danny smiled and placed a hand on her cheek. "So long as you're ok with dating a geeky human ghost hybrid with an annoying hero complex and a tendency to get hurt often for being way too clueless. But let's make a promise that no matter what, if this doesn't work out, we'll still always be friends. I can't lose you in my life, Sam, and I won't let my own stupidity be the cause of it. Agreed?"

Sam smiled as she leaned in, pressing her lips against his quickly before pulling away. "Agreed."

"Finally! Captain Clueless gets it!"

Both Danny and Sam turned toward the stairs as Danielle came into view, also in her ghost form. Neither were surprised to see the young girl, now clad in her own new uniform, as she floated down the stairs and landed in front of them.

Sam and Danny looked over the young girl's new suit with nods of approval. As requested, her suit had been made of spandex, but had been reinforced with the same material as Danny's to make it more resistant to wear and tear. The top was short sleeved and tight, giving her full mobility. The main color was white, but down the middle was a black stripe that went right in between her still developing bust, leaving her phantom logo in the middle of her chest. The neckline followed the black color scheme as it went up to her neck and stopped at her throat. Her pants were as tight as her shirt, but didn't restrict her at all as the legs of the pants flowed out at the bottom. The black fingerless gloves went up to her forearms and matched her boots that were similar to Danny's in material, but similar to the design of her old ones. Her belt was an exact replica of his, but was black to match her other accessories. The most surprising thing to Danny, however, was the hooded cape that she adorned. The inner material shone like white snow and held white loops on the inside for her to grab onto to allow it to flow in the wind like bird wings, while the outside was pure black. The hood rested on her back, connecting to the front, which Danny took note of, meaning that it only came off by going over her head.

"Wow, Dani. Nice cape," her brother said with a bit of skepticism.

"I gotta say, I'm really glad that both your suits fit so well," Sam said.

"It's perfect! Thanks again, Sam," Danielle said before looking at her brother. "You know, you don't look so bad without sleeves, bro. Now you can show off the results of all those pushups."

"Yeah, it's great. But you're still in trouble for eavesdropping, squirt."

"Don't call me that!" she said, sticking her tongue out at him. "And I wasn't eavesdropping. It's not my fault you two were talking so loud that I was able to hear you with my super sensitive hearing. But anyway, congrats on the new relationship you two. Now you can finally act like the lovebirds you are."

Both Danny and Sam smiled at her, lacing their hands together.

"Yeah. I guess we can," Danny said, looking at Sam.


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6: The Reappearance

December 15, 2010, 14:36 CST

"Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Jingle Bell, Rock!" The music blared from the speakers all around Amity Mall as people of various ages, sizes and the like browsed and moved quickly in an attempt to get their Holiday shopping done in the hopes of avoiding the last minute rush. The entire place, from one shop to the next, had been decorated with festive props. Lights of various colors were strung up, twinkling over the crowd. Shining silver and golden tinsel gleamed in the bright lights as it reflected off of their surfaces. The smell of aerosol fake snow wafted through the air before mixing with the sweet smell of baked gingerbread from the food court. Large, oversized ornaments hung from the ceiling in various colors as their surface reflected like a mirror. Lastly, in the center was a large evergreen tree, decorated in a traditional fashion as it reached to the very top of the roof, and just below, perched on a throne surrounded by large warped boxes, was a jolly man in a red suit with a long white beard and a hat to match.

"Santa!" Danielle cheered in excitement as she stood at the back of the line with her baby blue parka, ski hat and boots. "I'm so excited that I actually get to meet him!" Danielle turned to her companions who all had various facial expressions about being in line with the more then overly rowdy screaming children of various ages.

Sam, much to Danielle's surprise, had been very pleasant since they had been there. She found this strange since any knowledge she had about goth's had told her that they were usually dark and not pleasant during any time of year, though she attributed this to the fact that Sam was always a bit different and that she and Danny had been dating for a little over a week now. Tucker's mood had been up and down all day, though Danielle knew exactly why. Much to his displeasure, his Foley Mistletoe Beret hadn't pulled in any women, though he didn't seem to be letting that get him down or effect his holiday spirit, which was more then she could say for her brother who had been wearing a sour look since they had walked in. Danny looked around in annoyance as more and more people chattered and scattered around them in a rush, bumping into others, shoving people in an unforgiving manner and couldn't help the old feelings he had held before.

"Well I'm glad you didn't get Danny's distaste for the holidays, Danielle," Sam said, before turning to her boyfriend. "And I thought you said that you were going to try to be better after what happened last year?"

"I am trying, Sam," Danny said, placing a hand on Danielle's head and ruffling her hat, bringing a smile to her face. "I haven't said a word about any of this, as much as I'd love to, for both your's and Dani's sake. I'm trying to at least be somewhat civil this year."

"Well then you're gonna have to cheer up. I know you hate Christmas time, but walking around with that big frown on your face isn't going to make it better, you know," she said, placing a kiss on his lips.

"How can you hate the holidays?" Danielle asked as she spun around and took in all the cheer with a huge smile. "The decorations, the presents, the wonderful feeling everyone has when they're around each other."

"Ok, Jazz has let you watch way too many Christmas specials," Danny said. "Sure, the presents are nice, especially giving them to people you care about, and the decorations are ok, I guess, but people aren't nearly as happy as they seem."

"What do you mean?"

"Well like the people around here," he said, pausing to look around him again. "Everyone is always in such a rush, that most people don't care about anyone other than themselves. Especially when it comes to buying things. People get into fights over stuff all the time."

"Well, ok, but even so, there's plenty of joy in family, right?"

Danny sighed as he looked at Sam and Tucker, both wearing apologetic looks on their faces. They knew that when it came to Christmas and family, his was the most chaotic there was around, and they hated to see him get so upset about it. Now that Danielle was a part of his family, Danny wanted to make her first Christmas a special one, and not anything like the ones he and Jazz had growing up, which was why he had asked them to try and keep the annual feud quiet from Danielle. Unfortunately, he knew it was only a matter of time before she heard about it.

"Yeah, there usually is, Dani, but there's something you need to know about," Danny said, kneeling in front of her. "I don't want to burst your bubble or ruin Christmas for you, and I promise that Jazz and I are going to make it special, ok?"

"Danny…what are you saying?" she asked suspiciously.

"I'm saying-"

"Santa's real!"

"Santa is a fraud!"

Danny, Sam and Tucker all groaned as the four looked at the main stage where none other than Jack and Maddie stood, bullhorns in hand as they shouted back and forth with each other. Danny smack a hand over his eyes as he stood back up while Danielle's mouth dropped open and her face began to turn bright red.

"What are they doing!?" She whispered yelled, her eyes never leaving her parents.

"This, Danielle, is the annual Fenton Family Fight," Danny said as he shook his head and stuck his hands into the pockets of his red jacket. "Every year since before Jazz and I were born, Mom and Dad have argued over the possibility of Santa Claus being real or fake. Dad believes that he is and makes it known by trying to re-enact all of Santa's moves. Mom doesn't believe that he is, and tries to use science to prove so. Because of this stupid fighting, every year has been one disaster after another. From my first Christmas when a dog peed on me, to the one when I was four and the turkey came to life and tried to attack me and Jazz, to the one last year when I was trapped by the Ghost Writer in a book and they thought that I had destroyed Christmas for everyone in Amity Park."

"Oh my god," Danielle said, pulling her hat further over her head as she shook it. "This is so embarrassing."

"Trust me-"

"Hey, it's Fent-dolph, the geek nosed reindeer!" a loud voice cried from behind him, making Danny cringe.

"It's only just begun," he finished before turning around and coming face to face with Dash who was being flanked by Paulina, Kwan and Star. "What do you want, Dash? Besides butchering my last name."

"Heard you were back in town. I just wanted to let you know that I didn't think you could get any lamer since you're parents are making fools outta themselves, " Dash said as he towered over Danny.

"But then we found you losers waiting in line to see Santy Claus," Paulina said with a faux laugh that the others joined in on. "What are you, five?"

Danielle looked at the ground as they laughed, making her feel bad that she had forced them to wait in line with her to do something that she should have out grown by now. Sam could tell from the look on her face that Danielle wasn't in a very happy mood anymore, and it pissed her off to think that these airheaded jerks were about to ruin the little girl's first Christmas.

"Kinda funny that that's coming from a giant Barbie doll," Sam said with a smirk as she nudged Danielle who smiled a little at the comment. "I feel bad for any girl that finds that under their tree."

"Excuse me?" Paulina said, moving to get in Sam's face, but was quickly cut off as Danny stepped in front of her.

"Why don't you guys beat it? I'm trying to have a decent day, and you're mammoth breath isn't helping, so why don't you just get out of here so I can take my little sister to see Santa."

"Better watch yourself, geek, or else you're I'm gonna drop a Christmas beating down that chimney of yours," Dash threatened as he grabbed Danny by his jacket and lifted him up. Danielle gasped in horror as the jock rough handled her brother while the other popular kids only smirked at him. Without a second's hesitation, Danielle ran up and kicked Dash in the shin. The blonde boy cried in pain as he dropped Danny and held his now aching shin.

"Leave my brother alone!" She yelled, gathering people's attention. Sam reached to pull her back while Tucker helped Danny up from the ground, but never got to her as Dash picked Danielle up by the front of her jacket with his other fist pulled back.

"So you think you're tough? How bout I make you look like a red-nosed reindeer!?" he growled. Danielle kicked her feet out and struggled to get free without using her real strength for fear of exposing her secret, but found that it was useless to do so given her position. As Dash reared back and began to swing, his fist was suddenly caught in a gloved hand. Everyone turned in surprise to see a young man no older than them as he held Dash's fist with little to no effort, though the expression on his face clearly told that he was not happy. The boy was wearing a thick brown leather jacket that was zipped up all the way and a pair of dark cargo pants. His boots were black and thick, matching his gloves and his dark short hair. His blue eyes were bright yet held a lot of anger, mostly toward the boy standing before him. "What's the big idea, buddy? You want some too?"

"Let her go, now," the teen said, eyes narrowing as his grip tightened on Dash's wrist.

"And what if I don't" Dash challenged.

"That's not the best idea, pal." Everyone turned to see an entire group of teens that none of them knew, standing behind him with the same upset looks on their faces. The first boy wasn't as tall as the dark hair boy, but wasn't nearly as short as the other who also had dark hair and was wearing sunglasses. His red hair was wild and bright like his green eyes as he stood in his yellow and red parka. The third boy was small and had a skinny frame as he stood in his black jacket and hat, but behind those glasses was a mischievous pair of bright blue eyes. Behind them stood three girls, one blonde with dark gray eyes and a green jacket, another red head with a bright white puffy jacket that could rival the snow, and a dark haired girl with blue eyes wearing a black leather jacket and pink hat on her head.

"Who asked you?" Kwan said, moving to stand in front of the red headed boy. "Who do you guys think you are anyway?"

"Name's West. Wally West. And take it from me when I say that you don't wanna piss off my buddy Conner there anymore then you already have. So it would be in your best interest to put the kid down."

"Oh, and what are you gonna do?"

"This," the blonde girl said as she swept her foot under Kwan's, knocking him off balance. The football player stumbled as his feet came from under him, leaving him no time or way to react other than to receive her punch square across the left side of his jaw. As the lights danced around in his vision, Kwan tipped backwards, falling ungracefully onto the cold tile floor. Paulina and Star gasped, running to check on him while Dash could only stare in disbelief. Danny, seeing that he was distracted, quickly grabbed Danielle and yanked her out of Dash's grip. Danielle squeaked in surprise, but soon found herself safe in her brother's grasp as he held her tightly and glared at Dash with anger and a bit of hatred in his eyes. Conner only needed a second to see that the girl was safe before he let his own fist come up and deck Dash, knocking him out in a single blow. As the group all stood over the now downed jocks and perplexed pretty girls, they all looked at them in disgust.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, threatening a little girl like that," the red headed girl said with her hands on her hips.

"You know, maybe you should be a little more chalant next time you decide to pick on an innocent kid," the short boy said.

"And as for you two," the dark haired girl said, pointing to the two girls. "Maybe you should get it through you're pretty little heads that just because you think you're better than everyone else, doesn't mean you are."

Conner turned toward and smiled a small smile at Danielle as Danny placed her back on the ground.

"You ok?" he asked the entire group, though his question was clearly directed toward Danielle.

"Thanks to you, I am," Danielle said with a smile as she looked at the entire group who were all smiling at them now. "Thanks for all your help. That big buffoon is always tormenting my brother."

"Glad we can be of some help. I'm Megan and these are my friends Zatanna, Artemis, Robin, and you already know Wally and Conner," the red head said as she introduced each of them.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Danielle, and this is my big brother Danny, and our friends Sam and Tucker."

"Or you can call me TF, as in Too Fine," Tucker said, moving in closer to the three girls who all backed away from the hanging mistletoe on his hat with various looks of discomfort. Robin cackled before elbowing Wally in the side.

"Looks like you got some competition for world's worst joke teller."

"Oh ha ha, real funny, Rob," Wally said with a disgruntled look on his face. "You're so funny, you should do stand up."

Danny rolled his eyes as he grabbed his friend's shoulder and pulled him back as he looked at the six teens, a nagging feeling crawling in the back of his mind. He knew he had never met these guys before, and yet something told him he needed to be on guard for some reason. He knew that they weren't ghosts because his ghost sense hadn't gone off, but that didn't mean that they weren't dangerous, especially after the way that that Artemis girl had taken Kwan down easily without so much as breaking a sweat. If they could do that, who knew what else that they could do. As Danny was staring at them, he eyes locked onto Conner's as the young man stared back at him. Danny didn't like the look in other boy's eyes as he looked at him, though he didn't know what it was that he was thinking, but glared at him anyway out of natural habit from spending two months in the Ghost Zone, fighting for his life. In fact, Danny didn't trust anyone other than his closest friends and family. Conner's face fell as he returned the glare that didn't go unnoticed by Robin or Megan as she stood next to her boyfriend, nor did Danny's as Danielle and Sam stood next to him.

Pulling Tucker back from the group, Danny began to usher his friend's away. "Come on, Tuck. We gotta get in line, an-" Danny stopped as a gasp came from both his and Danielle's mouths and blue vapor spiraled from their throats. Luckily, they both were facing the opposite direction of the group when it happened as the mall was suddenly filled with screaming and running as people began to push and shove each other to get to the nearest exit. "Oh crap! We've gotta go." Not waiting to for an answer, Danny grabbed them all by the hand, and dashed off, running against the crowd. As they came upon the tree, Danny dove in, pulling Danielle in with him while Sam and Tucker stood by the tree as look outs. A bright flash illuminated the tree briefly before the two Phantoms emerged in their new outfits. Danielle groaned as they floated in place.

"Ugh! This sucks! First Mom and Dad have to do their stupid argument, then Dash tries to bash our faces in, and now I'm not gonna get to see Santa because of some ghost!"

"Yeah, well now you have a way to blow off some steam," Danny said with a grin as they took to the sky. Many of the on lookers began to cheer and applaud as the two flew over them, scanning for the threat that they had sensed. Danielle smiled as she waved at them while Danny smiled, but kept alert, having done the same thing many times and gotten ambushed because of it. Just as Danny was about to remind her that they had a job to do, a loud roar ripped through the air, causing everyone to scream. The building rattled and rumbled under the force of the devastating sound waves. The two Phantoms covered their ears and turned toward the sound of chains rattling as it came closer and closer.

The two gazed upon the ghosts as he stomped toward the crowd of people heading toward the exit, chains in hand. People screamed as they raced toward the exit, but found the exit blocked by glowing red chains that were securely wrapped around the handles to the door. The Ghost towered over the citizens like a true monster with his long sharp teeth and glowing red eyes with small black pupils. His long tongue was almost as long as the hairs that covered his body, hiding the digits on his fingers where the long sharp claws extended from. The sound of his hooves as they stomped on the ground sent shivers throughout the building, causing it to shake while his long, curved horns brushed against the hanging ornaments. Danielle stared at him in terrified horror, though whether it was hers or everyone else's, she didn't know, but one thing she did know was that the creature before them could only be defined as one thing: A demon. Danny looked on in stunned surprise at the size of the ghosts. He'd only seen three ghosts this size: Pandora, the Lizard that seemed to plague every river in the Ghost Zone, and Pariah Dark.

The devil Ghost made his way to the center of the mall and, raising his clawed hand, brought it down upon the large tree in his way, destroying it in an instant. As the splinters of the once decorative tree fell to the ground, people screamed and covered their heads to avoid the falling derby. Before either of them could move, Danny and Danielle were shocked to see all of the derby stop in mid-air before vanishing in a puff of smoke. Standing on the railing of the top balcony was a girl in a black tuxedo suit and stockings holding a magic wand. Danny instantly recognized her as the girl, Zatanna, that they had met earlier. As his mind raced with unease and questions, his attention was drawn back to the Ghost as he began to declare his demands.

"Citizens of Amity Park!" he roared in a voice that was deep and rough, very fitting for a demon such as himself. "I am Krampus, the Spirit of Christmas! I am the contrast of Saint Nicholas, the one you call, Santa Claus."

"Ha! See, he even said it! That proves that Santa's real!" Jack gloated as he and Maddie stood with the crowd. Maddie could only give her husband a disapproving look as the ghost continued to talk.

"Where as he rewards children for their good behavior, I punish those who misbehave." Many of the people began to scream in fear at his words, irritating him as he roared at them. Everyone fell silent as the power radiated off of him and turned into fear. "I have come because I have been informed that there lives a child in this town who has proven to be so vile and evil, that they must receive the ultimate punishment. You will tell me where this child is, or so help you, I shall drag you all away!"

Panic laced the voices of everyone in the mall as they all screamed and chattered wildly about themselves as to the mysterious identity of this child the spirit was seeking. Danny turned to Danielle, who was breathing heavily as she tried to suppress and control all of the emotions that were flooding into her at the moment. With a nod to her brother, the two flew up to eye level with the ghost.

"Hey, devil boy," Danny taunted, "I don't know, or care who you're here for, but you're not taking anyone away. So why don't you get out of here and go back to the hole you crawled out of?"

"Impudent child! You dare rise against the Devil of Christmas!?" Krampus said, raising his hand to strike. Just as he was about to attack, a roar came as a black object flew through the air and connected with the side of his head. Danny and Danielle stared in surprise as a teenager landed with a loud thud next to Krampus. Both instantly recognized him as the boy Conner as he stood without his gloves and jacket. A red and yellow blur began to move around the ghost's feet as a wind tunnel began to pick up, taking with it any lose derby or dropped objects. Just when the two didn't think it could get any stranger, they were startled by the objects that flew past them, and straight into the distracted face of Krampus who roared in irritation. Danny turned around to find three other teenagers, all clad in costume, as they stood next to Zantanna.

"Who the heck are they?" Danielle asked her brother as she watched the blur run up to the group and stop in front of them, showing that it was in fact another person.

"I don't know, but we'll have to figure that out later. Right now, we've gotta take this guy out. Just be careful and don't let your guard down."

Danielle nodded as she looked at the giant as he began to remove the foam that had blinded him. "So what's the plan?"

"You head to the door and try to get it open so these people can get out. I'll stay here and deal with him. Once you get that door open, come back over and help me," Danny instructed as he pulled the hood on his back over his head. Danielle nodded as she pulled her own hood up and took off, her cloak fluttering in the wind.

* * *

"Anyone got a clue who those two are?" Kid Flash asked as he regrouped with his friends. Artemis rolled her eyes as she put a hand on her hip.

"Well, if you had paid some attention on the way over here, you'd know that this place is supposed to be the hometown of Danny Phantom," she said.

"Wait, that's the guy that they keeps making the news about being both good and bad?" he asked.

"There's no denying that's him," Robin said as he looked over the image on his holoscreen. "Same hair, same eyes. But the outfit is way different, though the basic color concept is the same. But I've got nothing on his partner in the black cloak."

"So what do we do about them?" Superboy said as he glared at the two ghosts who were most likely having a similar conversation about them. Much to everyone's surprise, the two ghosts pulled their hoods up before the smaller one flew off toward the crowd. Superboy turned back to his teammates, everyone waiting for Robin to make a decision as mission leader.

"Ok, here's what we're going to do," he said, looking at them all and pointing to Artemis and Kid Flash. "Mis, KF, you two get that door open and get those people out of here. Make sure you watch your backs and keep a look out for that smaller one. We don't know what they're up to. The rest of us are going to take care of this guy and find out where he's keeping the captive kids." Everyone nodded, taking up their positions. Artemis was quickly scooped up into Kid Flash's arms bridal style where she wrapped her arms around his neck as he took off at full speed for the door. As much as Wally irritated her, she had to admit, she did enjoy being in his arms. Not that she was ever going to tell that to him. Who knows what would happen to his ego if she actually admitted that she liked him?

"Clear the way!" Kid Flash yelled as they approached the crowd who parted and made way for them to get to the door. Just as they came upon the door, the small ghost popped up from the ground, throwing up a shield in front of them. The two teen heroes panicked as Kid Flash tried to stop, but skidded straight into the shield, dropping his partner. As the two groaned and sat up, they jumped into battle position, Artemis notching an arrow and Kid Flash tightening his gloves as they stared into the green eyes waiting under the hood of the girl's cloak.

"What is wrong with you two?" She yelled at them. "Do you normally just charge start into glowing doors when you have no idea what's going to happen!?"

"Why should we listen to anything you have to say? You really expect us to trust you?" Artemis bit back as she tightened her grip on the bow. Danielle said nothing as she dropped the shield he had put up, and picked up a small ornament that had fallen to the ground. Turning her back to the two, she threw the ornament at the door where it hovered few inches away from the glowing aura that consumed the door before shooting off like a glowing bullet. The two heroes slid apart as the small projectile shot pass them and smashed into a wall, a smoldering red mark left in its place as the residual energy began to fade away. Everyone stared at the girl as she turned to face them again, smirk clear on her face.

"Well, that would be a pretty good reason to trust her," Kid Flash said as he looked at his partner who only glared back at him. "So, um, kid, what's your name?"

"Phantom. Danielle Phantom. But you can call me Dani. And that's with an I, not a Y."

* * *

Danny turned to Krampus as his ectoplasm began to charge around his hands, preparing his first move, when out of the blue, Conner came streaking through the air once more. However, this time, Krampus was prepared as he swatted Conner away like a fly, sending him crashing into a pillar that began to tip. Danny flew over to it, getting under it just in time for keep it from crushing the boy as he shook his head to clear it.

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" Danny yelled as he groaned under the weight of the pillar. "Are you trying to get yourself killed!?"

"Shut it!" Conner yelled back at him as he looked at the ghost boy with annoyance.

"Nice way to thank the guy who save you from being crushed by a pillar," he grunted just as the pillar began to float and moved away from the two of them before flying toward Krampus. The devil growled as his hand glowed red and a long branch appeared in his hand. With a powerful swing, the pillar was destroyed, pieces scattering everywhere.

"Zatanna, now!"

Danny turned as the last three members of the team jumped in front of him and Conner. Zatanna raised her wand and began an incantation that Danny had never heard of, though he knew nothing about magic to begin with.

"dnib mih yticirtcele," she cried as a bolt of electricity fired from her wand and began to wrap around the giant beast like a snake. Danny's eyes grew in astonishment as his adrenaline pumped through his veins.

"Superboy, Maneuver Seven!" the short boy cried as he ran to the muscle shirt wearing teen. As he jumped into his palm, the boy was launched into the air, heading straight for Krampus as he struggled to free himself from the shocking bindings. Just as the boy was upon him, Danny's eyes grew wide before he shot his hands out toward him. Superboy looked at him in anger, thinking he was trying to attack his friend, and prepared to launch himself at the ghost, when he noticed a giant wall of green energy appeared before Robin who used it as a springboard to bounce back just as Krampus freed himself and attacked it, smashing it to pieces.

Danny groaned as he dropped onto his hands and knees. Robin landed next to Zatanna who was feeling weak after using so much energy. Krampus roared as he leered down upon the group. Bringing his large hoof up, Krampus prepared to stomp them out of existence. Thinking quickly, Danny brought up a large dome over them all. The large hoof smashed into the dome, cracking it as the pressure weighed heavily on Danny while he focused to keep the construct together. Large beads of sweat fell from his brow while his body screamed for him to let up on the shield.

"What now? None of our attacks are working?" Superboy said as he turned to Robin who was tending to Zatanna at the moment.

"I'm not sure. Right now, it looks like Zatanna is the only one who can do any damage to him, and she's way to wiped to do anything right now," Robin said. "At this point, we might have to regroup, and –"

"You guys are really a bunch of idiots, you know that?" Danny said as he continued to hold the shield. "None of you are equipped to fight ghost! Who are you anyway!?"

"You know, you're not exactly in a position to talk, pal," Superboy roared at him.

"I'm only in this position because of you!" Danny glared with an effort. "If it wasn't for me, you'd be a pancake right now, so how about showing a little appreciation! In fact, if you guys hadn't shown up, this would be going a hell of a lot smoother!"

Before anyone could retort, a bright light exploded from an arrow, blinding the beast and causing him to step back, alleviating Danny of the pressure on his dome. Danny breathed a sigh of relief as he looked up to see Krampus backing away as he was pelted with ecto-disk.

"Everybody ok?" Kid Flash asked as he and Artemis made their way to their teammates while Danielle floated down to her brother, enveloping him in a hug.

"Are you ok?" she whispered to him. Danny nodded his head before getting to his feet and looking at the teen heroes who were now all back on their feet.

"Look, just let us handle this, ok? None of you have what it takes to take this guy down," Danny said, glaring at Superboy who looked ready to strangle him. "And by that, I mean that none of your weapons run on the type of energy that can actually do real damage to a ghost. The best you can do is disorientate him. Save for her." Danny pointed a finger to Zatanna. "So far, she seems to be the only one capable of doing any damage other then the two of us. So if you want to be of some use, why don't you try finding a way to get all these people out of here?"

"Wow, you're a real motivation speaker, you know that?" Kid Flash remarked sarcastically. "And we've already tried that, but based on what we've seen and what your partner told us, the only way this place is coming out of lockdown is if we take this guy down."

"And it's not like we don't have a reason for being here," Artemis said. "That guy has been kidnapping kids all over the place, and we need to find out why and where he's keeping them."

"So either you two start doing things our way, or move on because this is our job," Superboy said. Danny could feel his anger grow as he eye flashed green in anger at the boy. Danielle grabbed her brother's hand while M'gann grabbed Conner's shoulder.

"Now is not the time to be fighting with each other, Superboy," she said.

"She's right, Danny," Danielle said, looking at the frightened crowd. "We need to take care of this ASAP."

Danny sighed as he looked back at the group before him and nodded his head. "Fine. We'll work together to stop this guy."

"Good, because it looks like he' coming back for more," Robin said. Everyone turned to the large ghost as he roared in anger. The branch in his hand vanished as the energy flew into his clawed hands which he raised into the air.

"Enough!" he said, voice reverberating around him. "Bring me the one called Danielle Phantom now less you all be swallowed up."

"Danielle Phantom!?" Danny, Kid Flash and Artemis cried at the same time.

"Me!?" Danielle cried in shock, her eyes widening.

Danny looked to his younger sister before stepping in front of her in a protective stance. "I don't know what you want with her, but you're not getting my sister, you Sasquatch reject!" Danny yelled, surprising the other teens as they looked at them.

"Wait, you're Danielle Phantom?" Zatanna asked as she looked at the younger girl. "Why is he after you?"

"Because obviously they really are evil," Superboy said, glaring at the two of them. "Why else would he be here?"

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Kid Flash said.

"He's right. Now isn't the time for moral judging," Robin said. "We need to move and get her out-" Robin was cut off as a red light erupted from underneath their feet. Long chains sprung up and began to snake their way around everyone's feet and legs. Robin reached for his belt, but was quickly detained as the chains grabbed his wrists and tightened around him. Miss Martian struggled as she mentally tried to pry the chains off of her, but found it useless. As a last resort, she attempted to Phase Shift out of them, but found that she still could not do it. Artemis struggled against her chains as she attempted to reach her bow, but found that the more she struggled, the more she was restricted.

Superboy growled in annoyance as the chains wrapped around his forearms, forcing them behind him as well as his ankles, effectively hogtying him. Zatanna began to chant out her next spell when she suddenly started to gasp for air as the chains wrapped around her throat, constricting her windpipe and cutting off part of her air. Danny struggled to break the chains as Danielle as ripped from his grasp and pulled up toward the waiting palm of Krampus. As the girl came to eye level with the monster, he grabbed her, squeezing her and forcing her to shriek in protest.

"Danielle!" Danny shouted as the chains restrained him like the others.

Kid Flash quickly began to run, maneuvering around the chains as he tried to get to his friends. Dipping, ducking and diving, Wally soon found himself running from person to person, but with each try, he became more and more discouraged as the chains refused to budge. He soon found himself having to dodge faster each time he circled around as a group of chains attacked the spot he had been in.

"Damn it!"he mumbled as he tried to remove to Robin's chains.

"KF, get her! We'll find a way out of this, but it'll all be for nothing if we let him leave with her!" Robin commanded. With a nod, the speedster charged up the nearest wall, launching himself onto Krampus's large body where he began to run circles around him, trying to distract him while he tried to think of how he was going to free Danielle who was hanging limply in the monster's grasp.

"Stupid child! You shall suffer the same fate as this girl!" Krampus said as his eye began to glow red. More chains began to spring from portals around the area, each reaching out toward the young man. Wally quickly yelped as she began dodging more and more chains. Unfortunately, Wally realized too late that he had been running himself into a trap as the chains linked together, creating a cage around him. Wally struggled and began to punch at the links to try to break them. Krampus, having grown beyond annoyed with the boy, raised a glow red hand.

Wally's screams of pain caught everyone's attention as his cage surged with red electricity, effectively stunning the boy as he slumped over, unconscious. Everyone cried out to their fallen friend, but no one more the Robin and Artemis.

"KF!" Robin yelled.

"Wally!" Artemis yelled as they watch Krampus pick him up and hold him in the same hand as Danielle. Holding out his other hand, Krampus focused his energy that began to mold into the shape of a red sack.

"By the power vested in me, as the Spirit of Christmas, in three days time, I shall condemn these child who will face the trials, and suffer the punishment of all children of their caliber; damnation straight to hell! May the devil have mercy on their souls!"

"Danielle! DANIELLE!" Danny screamed as he watched the creature vanish in a bright red light, leaving only a large crater where he once stood. All sounds became void in Danny's mind as he could only stare at the spot when Danielle once was. His body fell slack as the chains that once held them all vanished as they popped out of existence. The exit doors soon flew open as everyone rushed out of the disaster zone save for the young heroes and the few members of Danny's friend and family as they ran toward him. Danny made no motion to move, but soon found himself being slammed into the ground. Blinking, Danny looked up into the angry faces of Superboy and Artemis who now held her bow, arrow notched, in his face.

"Where is he!?" the Kryptonian yelled as he held Danny's shirt in his vice grip.

"What have you done with him, Phantom!? Tell us where he is, now!" Artemis yelled.

Danny could only look at them in shock before his anger began to boil over. Danny gathered his energy in his body before releasing it all in a concussive burst, sending the two flying off of him before floating in the air, eyes glowing angry and hands sparking with live energy.

"You think I had anything to do with this!?" He shouted. "That ghost just took little sister! And it's all your fault!"

"What have you done with Kid Flash!?" Artemis yelled, arrow pointed square at Danny's chest.

"Enough!" Robin yelled, startling his team while Danny continued to hover menacingly over them all. "Artemis, Superboy, stand down!" The two looked at their friend in disbelief, wondering if he had lost his mind, but complied none the less. Robin turned toward Danny, a serious look on his face. "Look, Phantom. I don't know whether you're good or not, but I'm not here to judge. As of right now, a member of my team is missing and has been captured by this, Spirit of Christmas. It's also been made very clear that we don't have what it takes to stop him on our own. As of right now, our top priority is getting him back, but to do that, we're going to need the help of someone who knows about ghosts."

"Robin, you can't be serious! How do we know we can even trust this guy!?" Artemis protested.

"We don't have time to debate this, Artemis," Robin said, keeping his composure on the outside though on the inside he was panicking beyond belief.

"Robin's right," Miss Martian said, standing next to Superboy. "If we want to have any chance at all in find Wally, we're gonna need his help."

"Can't we just track his signal?" Superboy said, not liking the idea of working with a possible criminal.

"I've tried. I don't know where he's taken them, but it's not showing up anywhere on the planet. He's vanished," Robin said before turning back to Danny who was finally calmed down and was standing before him, energy no longer flowing around him. Robin walked up cautiously to the ghostly teenager. The two stared each other down until finally, Robin raised his hand, offering it to Danny. Danny looked at him, uncertainty in his eyes. "Please, will you help us to find our missing friend?"

Danny only stared at the hand as he thought about his options. Everything in his body was telling him that he needed to get away from these guys. He'd never met any human other then Danielle and Vlad who had type of powers, and here was a whole group. Sure, they claimed to be the good guys, but how did he know he could trust them? They didn't trust him, that much was clear. But as Danny thought about it, it became more and more clear: if he wanted to save Danielle, he was going to need help. Extending his hand, Danny gripped Robin's, shaking it though the look of distrust never left his face.

"I'll help you, but not because of whatever you're mission is. I'll do it strictly because he's a ghost, he's terrorized my town and because he took my little sister and your friend. So you have yourself a deal, but only if you agree to do this my way. You lead me to him, but once we get to him, you follow my orders. It's the only way we're going to beat him."

Robin was silent as he took in the serious look in Phantom's eyes as well as felt the look of his friends on his back. He was the leader right now, so whatever he did was going to affect all of them, especially Wally. And even though he knew next to nothing about this person, what choice did he really have?

"Deal. When we confront him, you lead us so that we can stop him."

Danny nodded his head, looking at the uneasy faces of all the teens around him while also noticing the confused and nervous looks of his friends and family as they stood away to try to give him space. Taking a deep breath, Danny addressed his new partners with determination in his voice.

"If you want to fight ghosts, you're going to need gear. And I know just where to get it."

To Be Continued…


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Team Up

December 15, 2010, 15:27 CST

Everyone watched as Danny moved around the room, silently going over weapons and gadgets that he planned to take with him. A small dufflebag sat by his feet as he looked over the Ghost Gauntlets, inspecting them, before adding them to the bag. A few of the easier to work weapons had already been added to the bag, including a few wrist rays, Specter Deflectors, hand guns, the Boa Staff that was infused with ecto-energy, and a few new inventions that they had recently completed: Ecto-mini bombs and an ecto-powered crossbow with arrows to go with it.

The bombs had been an idea that Tucker had come up with while playing DOOMED. The bombs were small, pellet sized devices that had the signature white metal and green glow that all the Fenton's inventions did. Though each had a different purpose ranging from concussive, explosive, flash, gas and green smoke screens, they were each designed the same so as to go unnoticed by opponents. The crossbow, however, had been Danny's idea. Though he loved all his parent's inventions, the constant worry of power drainage plagued him after his stay in the Ghost Zone. Sure, a fully charged weapon would last a while, but Danny never wanted to be unprepared for a situation where he couldn't recharge them. So, with a little convincing, he helped his parents design a crossbow that could not only function with ordinary arrows, but with a built in ecto-converter, could be power to fire ecto-energy and ecto-energy laced arrows.

But these were the least of Danny's worries as he prepared to head to his room to pack some extra supplies. "Better get a first aid kit," he mumbled to himself, floating by everyone without even acknowledging them. Jazz looked at his two friends and her parents, no one really sure of what to make of this, but decided that she needed to say something.

"Danny," she started, cautious of his temper. If there was one thing she knew, it was that her baby brother had a bad temper when he was upset. "Are you-"

"Do not ask me if I'm ok, Jazz," Danny growled out as he continued to face forward, though he had stopped in his tracks.

"I wasn't going to. I can see, very clearly, that you're not," she said a little nervously. "I was going to ask if you were sure about this. I mean, how do we know we can really trust these guys?"

Danny sighed before turning to face the curious eyes of his loved ones who were beyond concerned right now. "I don't have a choice, Jazz. I need to find Danielle, and these guys may be my only chance. And I'm going to need help bring him down, and without Danielle, that's going to be a lot more difficult."

"But giving them ecto-weaponry?" Maddie said. "How do we know that they won't turn on you and Danielle as soon as you rescue them? I mean, if they think you're a villain, what's stopping them from capturing you the moment your guard is down?"

"Then I guess I'll just have to keep my guard up," he said, but knew that they didn't like that answer. "Look, I know that it doesn't sound like a good idea, but I don't have a choice. I promise, I'll be alright and I'll bring Danielle back." With that said, Danny turned intangible, and flew through the ceiling, heading for his room. Everyone could only look at each other with the same feeling of unease that they had felt since they had gotten back.

The second that the Fenton's, Sam and Tucker got back to Fenton Works, they instantly headed straight toward the lab to gather whatever it was that they would need to start their search for Danielle. Maddie could feel the panic coursing through her body as she thought about the possible dangers her youngest child could be in. Though she had only been there for little under a month, the girl had grown on everyone in the home, and none of them would rest till she was safe again.

The entire ride home had been silent between the four of them as they all tried to understand what had happened and what Danny had said to those others before he vanished from site. As soon as he was gone, Maddie and Jack grabbed Sam and Tucker and headed for the GAV. For once, neither teen seemed to mind the erratic driving of the Fenton patriarch as he zipped and sped around every corner. As soon as they got home, they all ran through the door, startling Jazz who had been on the couch reading.

"What's going?" Jazz said to Sam and Tucker while her parents rushed toward the lab. "Where are Danny and Danielle? Weren't they with you guys when you left?"

"Gone. Both of them!" Tucker exclaimed as he threw his arms in the air. Jazz's face went from confused to concern as she turned to Sam for an explanation.

"A giant ghost named Krampus showed up and started stomping around, claiming to be the Spirit of Christmas and that he was there to punish an evil child," Sam said. "Danny and Danielle went to go fight him, but some other kids interfered and got in the way. They tried to fight him off, but as soon as he caught them in these weird glowing chains, he took Danielle. This really fast kid tried to get to her, but he got capture too right before Krampus disappeared. As soon as they were free, those other kids attacked Danny and started blaming him for their friend being taken away, and Danny just snapped."

"Snapped? What do you mean snapped?" Jazz asked cautiously.

"She means that Danny was about to pound those guys into the ground," Tucker said. "He was glowing extra bright and everything."

"We couldn't hear what they were saying, but we saw them shaking hands before Danny looked at us and vanished. We figured he'd be here by now," Sam said. Just as she finished talking, the boy in question phased into the room, passing right through the front door. "Danny! Oh thank god. I thought something had happened to you. Where have you been?"

"Here." Danny said, grabbing the remote and turning the TV on. Everyone watched as a special news report displayed across the screen with what looked to be a press release held by none other than the town mayor himself, Vlad Masters. None of them even knew what he was about to say, but seeing the man brought back emotions of disgust and distain for the man, and by the look on Danny's face, pure hatred.

"_We now go to Mayor Masters who has called this press conference to discuss the recent reappearance of Danny Phantom and the mysterious girl at the mall."_ The reporter said as the camera panned to Vlad as he stood at his podium, a cocky smile on his face as he begun to speak.

"_Citizens of Amity Park," _Vlad said, gaining everyone's undivided attention. _"I know that you are all very concerned about the sudden reappearance of the hooligan ghosts, Danny Phantom. Some of you may even be excited, and happy. But, as the Mayor of this town, I must tell you that Danny Phantom has proven himself to be a danger to us all. _The crowd gasped before questions began to fly, but Vlad only held up his hand, silencing them all. _For the last two months, Danny Phantom has been nowhere to be seen. Not only that, but the level of Ghostly Activity has been none existent. Then, upon his sudden reappearance today at Amity Mall, not only does he bring some miscreant girl along with him, but a devil, so monstrous, he nearly destroyed everything and everyone. The Ghost boy may claim to be good, but if that were true, then why would a spirit who claims that he only goes after those of evil intent, come searching for a Phantom? And then there is the fact that there is more than one Phantom, a fact that the so called hero, has hidden from everyone. If he were truly good, then why not bring her out before, instead, waiting until-_

Sam had heard enough as she turned the TV off, fist shaking at her sides. "That snake."

"Trust me, it only gets worse. I barely kept myself hidden. I don't know what he's planning, but I know he's responsible for sending that guy going after Danielle," Danny said, turning and heading for the basement. "But I'll have to deal with him later. Right now, I gotta get some stuff ready."

"Ready for what?" Tucker asked. "And what did those other guys say to you?"

"I'm meeting up with them later. We've agreed to work together to get Danielle and their friend back."

"Wait, what!? You're going to trust them!? Danny, that's insane," Sam said, following him downstairs toward the lab. Danny remained silent, obviously not going to respond to her cries of outburst.

"Mom, Dad. I'm taking some weapons with me to get Danielle back," Danny stated, walking over to the open vault.

"Good. We can come up with a plan, and-"

"I'm doing this alone," he said, shocking both parents.

"What!? Danny-"

"I said, I'm doing this alone," he said, eyes flashing green. Maddie jumped back, startled by her son's sudden cold demeanor. Twenty minutes later, Maddie could still feel her hands shaking from the cold stare in her son's eyes.

Everyone moved up the stairs, and waited in the kitchen, though they didn't have to wait for long before Danny came phasing through the ceiling, bag in hand. Everyone looked at him, waiting for whatever it was that he was going to say, though they all had to admit that they felt utterly helpless. Danny looked at all their concerned faces before sighing.

"Ok, look. I know you guys are worried and want to help, but this is something I've gotta do on my own. These guys, these heroes…they don't trust me. And honestly, I don't really trust them either, hero or not. There's a very good possibility that they might try and catch me as soon as this is all over. But no matter what happens, I'm going to save Danielle. Even if they catch me, I promise you, she's going to make it back here."

"But Danny, that doesn't explain why you won't let us help you in some way," Sam said, crossing her arms.

"I can't run the risk of them finding out that I'm associated with any of you guys. If they knew any of you were helping me, it's only a small step from everyone getting arrested for aiding a supposed criminal," Danny said with a grimace on his face. "I'm sorry, but I'm not taking any chances. Not with Robin the Boy Wonder there. I need to make it seem like I'm not associated with anyone in town."

Sam moved to stand before her boyfriend. His gaze remained hard and determined, and, though it was rare, she knew that there wasn't going to be any way to convince his overly stubborn mind that they could help in some way. So, with a quick hug and a kiss, Sam smiled at him and gave him a quick shove.

"Alright. Go get'em, hero. We'll stay here. Hold down the fort. You just go, save your sister. And you better be back before Christmas," she chastised. "I don't care how much you hate it, you better be here safe and sound when I come over to visit, you hear me?"

Danny smiled, hugging her and smiling at his family, confidence on his face. Gripping the bag in his right hand, Danny gave them all a quick wave.

"I promise, I'll be back here, with Danielle. By Christmas. You guys just be careful."

With that said, Danny turn intangible once more and phased through the wall, into the air and across the town.

December 15, 2010, 20:08 CST

Danny dropped his invisibility, dufflebag in hand as he stood in the middle of the empty park, waiting for any sign that anyone was here other then himself. Danny's patience was hair thin by this point, and he was beyond ready to go. However, Robin had asked that they be given some time to prepare and adjust the specs of their mission, and asked that they meet at this time. Though, as Danny looked at his watch, he realized that they were running almost ten minutes late.

"Seriously, I give them the common courteously of waiting till the time he asked, and they're running late. These guys are really unappreciative," Danny mumbled to himself.

"Well, maybe we're just not in such a hurry to work with you." Danny turned to see Superboy walking up to him, Robin, Zatanna and Artemis flanking him. Danny was surprised to see that all the color had been drained from their costumes, leaving them in dark gear that he assumed was to help them hide. Danny also noticed that the green girl wasn't present, but figured she probably wasn't too far behind.

"Trust me, the feeling is mutual," Danny sneered at the Kryptonian. "I'm not exactly looking forward to having you glaring at me the entire time. Let's just get this going so we can save them and get this over with."

Robin nodded his head, though he narrowed his eyes at the bag in Danny's hand, instantly wondering what or why a ghost would need a bag. He couldn't possibly have clothes or food in there. Ghost didn't need to eat. Or at least that was the general assumption made by experts. So that only left the prospect of some type of gear, but it still left to question what exactly it was, and if it could endanger his team.

"Phantom," Robin said, getting Danny's attention. "What's in the bag?" Danny smirked, and opened his mouth to respond, but was instantly cut off by Superboy, who practically growled out the answer.

"Weapons. And a lot of them," he said, gripping his hands as he eyed Danny like a tiger ready to pounce on his prey.

"Weapons? Why would a ghost need weapons?" Zatanna asked, her eyes now trained on the bag as well.

"Like I said before, you guys don't have the equipment needed to fight this guy. I also said that I knew where to get some. So," he said, holding up the bag. "Here it is."

"Where would a ghost get weapons to fight other ghosts?" Artemis asked in suspension.

"From the local ghost hunters," Robin stated, eyes narrowing. "You stole equipment from the Fenton's, and now-"

"You expect us to use those or trust you!?" Superboy yelled. "I knew you couldn't be trusted!"

"Easy, Superboy," Robin said, stepping in front of his friend. "We need him, and right now, as much as none of us may like it, he's our only chance of stopping Krampus."

Superboy backed down, but continued to glare at Danny, which only irritated the boy more, though he didn't say anything. Just as the half-breed brought the bag back to his side, the wind began to pick up, almost as if a helicopter had shown up. Danny's senses went into overdrive as his gaze turned to the sky, his mind running with every scenario imaginable, including the one where they had turned him over to the Guy in White and set him up. His eyes quickly landed on the red ship that appeared out of the nowhere, disabling it's cloaking as it neared the ground.

"What. The hell. Is that?" Danny asked as it turned around, the back opening up to reveal a hatch.

"It's our ride. So get moving before we make you," Artemis threatened. Danny rolled his eyes at her abrasiveness, and, gripping his bag tightly to try and steady his nerves, jumped into the air, floating up to the open hatch. Looking down the short entryway, he was soon presented with doors on the sides of the hallway and a large archway at the very end that led to a cockpit. Danny was amazed, having never seen anything like this before in his life. Though his astonishment was short lived as he felt his shoulders being bumped roughly, his left my Superboy and his right by Artemis. Everyone walked down the short hall as the door behind them closed. Danny narrowed his eyes at the two, but made no comment as he entered the room where Miss Martian sat, hands on two glowing orbs that Danny assumed were the controls. As he walked in, the door closed again, this time molding into the wall, making it look as if it were never there to begin with. Danny tried to swallow his nervousness, not liking the fact that he was stuck in a room with a bunch of people who didn't particularly like him at the moment with no exit.

"Welcome, Phantom, to the Bio-Ship," Miss Martian said, a small smile on her face. "I know this is probably kind of weird, but we'll explain on the way. Now, if you'll take your seat, we'll take off and get going."

"Um, right," Danny said, watching as a seat formed from the floor on the right side on the cockpit. Danny walked over to his seat, and sat, surprised at how comfortable the cushions felt. Danny yelped in surprise as two straps crisscrossed over his body. Once settled in, Danny felt the ship began to rise up into the air, reminding him of the many times he'd imagined what a real space shuttle would feel like. As he contained his excitement, he turned to look at the others. "So, where exactly are we going?"

"The trail the originally lead us to him has gone cold," Robin said, typing away on his holoscreen. "I've been trying to find any information that I can on him. There seems to be many accusations of possible sightings in Salzburg, Austria. For years, the people have thrown a festival to try and appease him and try to help prevent him from coming and kidnapping them. If there's any place to start looking, this is it."

"Makes sense to me. I just hope we can find something useful that'll lead us to him," Danny said, turning back around and staring out the window. The air in the cabin of the ship became heavy with awkwardness as none of the others knew what to say to Danny, or, in Superboy and Artemis's cases, not wanting to say anything to him. After almost a half an hour, M'gaan decided that she couldn't take it anymore, and decided she would try to ease it away.

"So, Phantom," she began, a slight turning of his head her only notification that he was listening. "How long have you live in Amity Park?"

"Sixteen years," was his simple reply.

"Interesting. Do you have any friends there?"

"No. I'm dead, remember? No one wants to be friends with someone who's dead."

"Oh…right," she said, feeling a little embarrassed at her question now. "Do you have family that still lives there?"

"Nope. Just me and my sister."

"So why do you fight ghosts? Is it a territorial thing?" Zatanna asked, trying to be helpful.

"Nope. Most of the time they're coming after me for one reason or another. Sometimes it's because I beat them before, sometimes it's because they want my head, and sometimes it's just to make themselves feel better."

"So then they're evil?"

"Some are. Some aren't. Some want world domination, some just like to cause trouble. Some ghosts just want to left alone and live their afterlife in peace."

"And where do you fall into all off this? I've read that all ghosts have an obsession, so what's yours?" Robin asked, causing Danny to sigh.

"I don't have one. At least not a specific one, anyway." Danny said. Conner, who had been listening to the entire exchange in silence, finally hit his peak as he slammed his fist on the console in front of him, startling everyone except Danny who had been staring at him before hand.

"Look, all this sugar coating crap is starting to get on my nerves," he said, eyes still on Phantom. "So I'm just gonna come out and say it because frankly, I'm not too keen on working with someone who's an obvious criminal. So what's the deal, Phantom? You claim to be a hero, yet here you sit, with a bag full of stolen weapons. Mind explaining just what the hell you're doing?"

Danny's eyes narrowed at the boy who's temper could probably match his own as he contemplated if he could take the Kryptonian on in a fist fight.

"I may have taken some things from the local hunters, but it was for a good purpose because if I didn't, there's no way in hell that we would be able to save the others."

"Then what's the deal with the ghosts? The Mayor said that the ghosts stopped coming as soon as you disappeared. How do we know that you're not connected to all the attacks?"

"That psychotic fruitloop will say any goddamn thing to make himself look good!" Danny shouted, fists clenched. "He's always planning something! Everything is just a game to him, and he doesn't care who he has to hurt or use to get what he wants! But I guess that's what you'd expect from a politician." Though Danny hated Vlad, exposing his secret would only lead to bigger consequences on his side, and right now, that wasn't something he could afford to deal with. But as soon as this was over, he and Vlad were going to have a little chat.

"You expect us to believe that he really has that much of a vendetta against you, simply to make himself look good?" Artemis asked in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Like I give a shit about the opinion of some Green Arrow and Speedy wannabe," Danny said with sneer.

"What did you say!? You wanna go, spooky?" Artemis shouted back, grabbing her bow. "I swear, I'll put an arrow through your skull so fast-"

"Oh yeah, that's gonna do you some real good. Especially when I can turn intangible," Danny replied sarcastically. He knew egging them on in this confined space was a bad idea, but at this point, he was too angry and too far gone to stop now. Looking to Superboy, he decided that he might as well get everything out in the open. "And since we're talking about imposters, why not talk about tall, dark and frownie over there. I mean, seriously, Superboy? Nobody's even ever heard of you! Everyone knows Superman. I bet no one would even acknowledge you!"

"You're gonna regret that!" Superboy shouted, getting to his feet.

"Conner, stop!" Zatanna said, glaring at Danny as well. "He's just trying to get under your skin and make you mad."

"She's right. And considering I'm a ghost, I could easily just overshadow you," Danny said. "Who are you guys anyway? I mean, no offense to the two of you," he stated, looking at M'gaan and Zatanna before looking at Conner and Artemis again, "though I hope I did offend you, but I've never heard of any of you other then Robin and Kid Flash. And even the boy wonder is considered a vigilante, which in the eyes of the police and the government, still makes him a criminal."

"Robin is nothing like you!" Zatanna said, shocking everyone at her outburst. "Robin helps people and does what's right!"

"Oh? You mean like hacking, breaking and entering, things of that nature?" Danny said, looking to the boy in question who hadn't said a word or even made a move. He only continued to look at Danny, though unlike his friends, it wasn't a look of hatred or annoyance, but one of contemplation. A look of understanding. For Robin knew that not only was everything Danny said true, but he understood the struggle the boy must have been going through trying to prove that he was indeed trying to protect them. The only difference between him and Phantom was that Robin had a mentor in Batman while Phantom had to be a mentor to his younger sister.

"Yes, he's done those things, but all for a good purpose! He isn't-"

"He isn't dead," Danny interrupted, shocking everyone as they looked at him while his face became blank. "That's what you're trying to say, isn't it? Because that's the only difference between me and all of you. The reason that everyone thinks I'm evil, the reason I'm hunted every day, is because I'm a ghost. An undead, evil spirit with unfinished business that's stuck on this plane, doomed to plague the earth for all eternity. That's what it is, that's what it always has been. And people are so damned prejudice against ghosts that they don't bother to understand that ghosts are like people because they once were people. There are good ghosts, evil ghosts, and ghosts that just want to be left in peace, but because they are a ghost, they are hunted and assumed to be evil. So yes, if we're going to use that assumption as a basis for anything, then I guess I really am evil."

The room grew quiet once again as everyone looked at him. M'gaan didn't say anything, but the guilty look on her face told Danny that she, once again, understood what he trying to say to them. Danny didn't know what it was, but he was grateful that she did because out of everyone, she and Robin seemed to be the only one who treated him like more than just a criminal. Danny wasn't surprised when the looks of the others hadn't changed much, though he hadn't expected it to, if at all, though they did seem to have calmed down a bit. Danny took this as his chance to put an end to their conversation, and turned back to look out the window.

M'gaan was starting to believe that getting him to open up and work with them was a lost venture with the way the others were acting and the hostility that he had been showing toward them, when Artemis asked another question of her own.

"So how'd you die?" she asked, bluntly, arms crossed over her chest. Danny stiffened, turning to face her with annoyance and a frown on his face. Artemis narrowed her own eyes at him, daring the boy to even try anything.

"You know, it's rude and disrespectful of the dead to ask a ghost how they died so bluntly like that."

"Yeah? Well I don't care. So, I'll ask you again; how did you die?" Danny remained quiet, staring at her, though he did notice that everyone else was just as curious, though M'gaan looked mortified at her friend's actions.

"Fine. You wanna know how we died?" Danny asked, his voice growing dark. "My little sister and I were in the wrong place at the wrong time. We found a device, a gateway, that looked like it hadn't worked in years. Danielle decided to investigate it. I tried to stop her, but she didn't listen. When she was in there, she tripped on a wire, and hit a button on the inside. The machine began to make noise like an engine starting up. Without thinking twice, I rushed in there, and tried to pull her out of it, but I didn't make it out. We got electrocuted. Have you ever felt, thousands of volts of electricity, coursing through every fiber of your body? Do you know what it sounds like to have to listen to someone you can about, dying, in your arms!? It's something that will haunt you forever. That was two years ago, and to this day, I can still feel the burning of my skin as it was charred and singed." Everyone remained quiet as they looked upon Danny, his eyes glowing a vibrant green color as his pain was laid out for everyone to see. They were all surprised to hear Danny speak again. "It's because of that that I've vowed to protect Danielle as much as possible. I know that I can't keep her from every danger there is out there, but I'll be damned if I sit around and not do something about it. Even if I die again, I won't let her go through something that tragic again, and I don't give a damn what anyone else says or thinks about me."

This surprised the others, and, to M'gaan, made his case even more concrete. Ghosts were supposed to have no emotion, and yet, here sat a ghost-no, a boy, that held more emotion and determination then she had seen on many others his age (though she didn't have much to compare him to). With a smile, she turned to face the front, and continued to pilot the ship.

_The other's may not trust him, but I think Phantom has proved that he at least has enough humanity left in him to be a hero. Whether or not people want him to be. And he may not see it, but I can tell, that protecting people, especially his sister, is his obsession. I just hope that the others can see the same thing I can, sooner rather than later._

To Be Continued…


End file.
